House of Hades
by RascalJoy
Summary: Seven half-bloods shall answer the call... Well, they've done that. Now, two of the most important members of the seven have fallen into Tartarus, leaving the others scrambling to fill in the gaps as they make their way toward the Doors of Death. But as they get closer and closer to their goal, they begin to wonder just how many of them will make it through this quest alive.
1. PERCY I

**9-20-13**

**Hello, everybody! So, this is technically the first fanfic I've ever attempted to write. I've been working on it since January. Now, I've finally decided to publish it, even though the end still needs to be slapped together. I figured that publishing the first chapter would give me incentive to get this done ;)**

**Enjoy!**

******~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**PERCY**

**Percy should have been dead**. You'd think that just falling into Tartarus would have done the trick, but no. The Fates had decided to make his life miserable for awhile longer.

Over the last hour, he and Annabeth had been attacked by a pack of hellhounds, a half dozen Scythian dracanae, a Cyclopes wearing a T-shirt proclaiming "Eye've Got My Eye on You" (which was a pretty bad pun), and to top it all off, a fire breathing hydra. As it were, he didn't even know how they had survived that. And that was just the past hour. He had no idea how long they had been down here, but it felt like months.

The problem was, these monsters couldn't be killed. It was bad enough that they reformed immediately up above, but here, it was a hundred times worse. This was where the monsters went when they were killed in the first place. Result? They didn't explode into powdered drink mix. It was a very one-sided situation.

And if things couldn't be worse, Annabeth had a broken ankle. It was difficult for her to walk, let alone fight.

He looked at her now. She was asleep with her head on his lap. They had found a temporary sanctuary on a rock ledge about six feet off the ground.

Annabeth couldn't climb much farther than that. He didn't blame her for being so tired. Wandering through the streets of Rome, hitching a ride with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, outsmarting a whole fraternity of ghosts, being chased through an undergound tunnel by a bunch of little spiders, defeating Arachne, and falling into Tartarus all with a broken ankle made for a pretty busy day, even by demigod standards.

They had found Annabeth's dagger and Daedalus's laptop when they had landed. Somehow, the laptop was still intact. He had no idea how that was possible, but hey, he didn't even know how he had survived the drop. Maybe it had something to do with landing on Arachne.

The corners of his mouth twitched as he remembered that strange incident.  
After falling for what seemed like hours, they had landed on the giant spider woman. They had stuck to the webbing of the woven trap that still covered her body. It had been quite a job trying to get themselves free without cutting the trap to pieces and releasing Arachne. The whole time, Arachne had been screaming bloody murder, which had attracted the unwanted attention of all the monsters in Tartarus.

He was brought back to the present as he heard a low growl somewhere in the darkness below. His head snapped up, and he peered intently into the surrounding darkness for any sign of the monster. At first, he saw nothing. Then, he saw a pair of red eyes slowly creeping towards them. The thing growled again. Percy uncapped Riptide and it grew into the three-foot long monster death machine that he had fought with for years. He felt comfort with the familiar feeling of the sword's hilt in his hand. He swung Riptide in the direction of the glowing eyes.

"Stay back," he warned. As expected, the monster just kept coming. As he watched, more and more eyes came shining through the darkness, all headed towards them.

Keeping his eyes trained on the things in the darkness, Percy gently shook Annabeth's shoulder. "We've got company."

Annabeth woke with a start. "Wha—?" she started, then saw the group of floating eyes. "Oh." She drew her dagger. "How long have they been here?"

"About a minute," Percy answered. "It started with one, but more followed. What are they?"

Annabeth studied them for a moment. "Not sure," she admitted. "It's hard to tell with only their eyes."

One of the monsters crept closer, and Percy raised Riptide so it cast its glow over on the monster. He groaned. "It's that pack of hellhounds again." Sure enough, snarling in Riptide's bronze light was a black dog the size of a rhino with blood red eyes.

"Hellhounds. Right," Annabeth agreed. "You take the one's on the left, I'll take the ones on the right."

Percy shrugged. "Sure. Short and simple."

Just then, one of the creatures howled and leapt right at Percy. He yelped and stabbed upwards with Riptide, slicing the monster across the chest. It whimpered in pain, but didn't disentegrate. Instead, it limped behind its companions and began licking its wounds.

The other creatures backed off warily, eyeing Percy's sword. It didn't take them long to realize that they outnumbered Percy and Annabeth ten-to-one. They charged.

Percy and Annabeth hacked at anything that tried to get on their little ledge.  
He didn't know how long they had been fighting, but just as suddenly as they had attacked, the hellhounds faded into the darkness.

Percy wearily wiped the sweat off his brow. Luckily, neither of them had been injured. Together, they scanned the darkness, waiting for the hellhounds to attack again. A few minutes had gone by before Percy decided to speak up.  
"What's the play, Wise Girl?" he asked.

Annabeth considered this for a moment. "Well, they've stopped attacking. The question is, for how long? We can easily keep them off us when we're on this ledge, but the problem is, we won't be get any closer to the Doors of Death by just sitting here."

Percy scanned the wall behind him, but couldn't see more than two feet to either side because of the darkness. "Maybe they'll stay away long enough for us to find another ledge?" he suggested.

"Maybe," Annabeth answered. "But what if there is no other ledge? This is the first one we've found since we've been down here."

"There is another ledge," Percy said firmly. "We just have to find it."

Annabeth glanced at him skeptically. "You do realize that I still have a broken ankle, don't you?"

Percy cursed himself silently. Well, duh. He knew that. "Don't worry," he assured her. "I'll keep the monsters off if they try to get us. You can just walk."  
Annabeth looked doubtful, but she nodded her head. "Okay, Seaweed Brain. If we die, I blame you."

Percy smiled grimly. "Let's do this."

"On my mark," Annabeth ordered. "One, two, three!"

Together, they scrambled off the ledge to the ground below.

~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~

Percy regretted his idea almost immediately after they had started. They had made it to the ground okay, and had started making their way along the bottom of Tartarus. They were doing pretty well; that is until the red eyes once again appeared in the darkness, following them. For awhile, they kept their distance, staying out of reach of Percy's sword. But then they got bold. They realized that one, there was only two of them, and two, one of them had a broken ankle. They started nipping at them, darting a little closer each time, jumping back before Percy could hit them.

"Uh, Percy?" Annabeth started, glancing nervously at the hellhounds surrounding them. "Are you sure this was a good idea?"

"Just keep moving," Percy instructed, eyeing the monsters warily. He knew they had a couple minutes at most before the monsters would get smart and swarm them. He scanned the wall next to him. There had to be a ledge around here somewhere…

One of the hellhounds lunged, missing Percy's hand by inches, before hopping backwards as Percy swung Riptide reflexively. The blade whistled harmlessly through the air in front of the hellhound's snout.

"When did hellhounds get smart?" Annabeth panted. "I've never seen one do a lightning attack like that one before."

"I have no idea," Percy responded. A few more snapped at them, but so far, they hadn't been bitten.

"Maybe since this is their home turf," Annabeth mused, "they're a lot stronger and smarter. Plus, they're technically already dead."

"Well that's nice to know," Percy commented, slicing off a snout that had snuffled too close. He knew it wouldn't be this easy for much longer. The hellhounds were getting bolder, and when they did decide to pounce, they were outnumbered a hundred to one. Plus, they couldn't die. Pretty fair odds.

"Percy, watch out!" Annabeth called.

Percy whirled around and sliced the head off a charging hellhound. He slammed Annabeth into the wall and placed himself in front of her.

The hellhounds crept closer and closer. They stopped just out of the reach of Percy's sword. They seemed to be considering their options. One of them growled, and the others growled back. Were they…communicating? Before he could ponder this more, they all leapt as one.

It was all Percy could do to keep them off of them.

Annabeth helped as best she could by stabbing at anything within her reach, but most hellhounds were too far away.

Percy hacked at everything, unable to distinguish shapes through the thick wall of black fur and glowing red eyes. They had to get out of there, and fast. There was no way Percy could keep this up much longer.

As if in answer to his question, a sharp claw scratched his left calf before he could stop it. He grunted as hot blood poured out the wound, down his leg, and soaked into his sock. It wasn't that deep, but it wasn't a scratch either.

"Percy," Annabeth gasped.

"I'm fine," Percy muttered. "But we need to get out of here."

"Well, duh," Annabeth agreed.

They were silent for a few moments.

"Okay," Annabeth called, "here's the plan. Let's keep moving with our backs to the wall. They'll probably get tired of us eventually and go away. Probably."

"Fine with me," Percy agreed.

"Ready, set, go," Annabeth announced.

Together, they started moving slowly to the side, keeping their backs to the rough rock wall behind them.

The hellhounds moved with them, trying to cut them off, but Percy kept their way clear. Everything was going well…until Annabeth tripped over a loose rock. She fell backwards and smashed her head into the wall, falling unconscious with a bleeding forehead at Percy's feet.

"Annabeth!" Percy screamed.

He stepped in front of her limp form, and hacked wildly at the hellhounds. He was tiring fast, he could feel it. The monsters must have realized it too, because they started attacking harder than ever. He knew he didn't have much time before he was overwhelmed. His only chance was to catch them by surprise.

He waited for an opening, then scooped up Annabeth and dashed through the mass of fur. His trick must have worked, since nothing attacked. He had just made it past them, relief coursing through his body, when he heard a loud growl. He felt something heavy and sharp slash down his back, tearing deep into his flesh. He screamed in agony. His back felt like it was on fire. One of the hellhounds must have crept up behind him while he was distracted. His vision swam, and his knees buckled beneath him.

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**BWAHAHAHAHA! Cliffie ;P**

**So what did you think? This was one of the first scenes I'd ever written, so it's not my best, but drop a review anyway? Sorry if it's slightly OOC, but I'm just so anxious to get this up before the book comes out (and I'm cutting it EXTREMELY close), so I really don't have time to revise my old scenes if I want to finish writing my new scenes. Constructive criticism is accepted and appreciated! **

**I will try to get the next chapter up tomorrow, but I'm going to be in a car almost all day, so no guarantees. This fanfic is almost completely written out, so updates will be daily until I reach the unfinished part.**

**I hope you enjoyed!**


	2. PERCY II

**9-21-13**

**Thank you Liana Legaspi for reviewing! And thank you Aleeta6 for reviewing, favoriting, and following! **

**Guess what? You know how I said we're gonna be in the car all day so I might not update? Well, we haven't left yet! So I'm publishing the next chapter before we leave ;)**

**Enjoy!**

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**PERCY**

**Percy could hear the hellhounds getting closer, coming in for the kill.** But all he could think about was the pain. His back felt like it had been covered in lava. Unfortunately, he'd had to deal with that first-hand.

His breath was quickening and his vision was growing dark.

_Stop it_, he thought to himself. _You can't fall unconscious. You'll get killed. Annabeth will get killed._

He shook his head like a dog, trying to clear it, but ended up aggravating his back wounds. The result was what he had originally intended, though: he woke up to his surroundings. There was no way he was going to let Annabeth die because he'd been stupid enough to let his guard down. It was his fault they were in this situation in the first place.

He staggered to his feet, barely holding back a scream.

Spots danced before his eyes. His head spun. But he started forward, lurching along as fast as he could. He could barely put one foot in front of the other, but he managed to increase to a steady jog. He could hear the hellhounds behind him, their growls getting louder as they got closer and closer.

Percy desperately scanned the black wall next to him, searching for something, anything, that could serve as a shelter. He thought he saw a deeper patch of blackness, illuminated by a small stream of lava, and he headed toward it. When he reached the opening, his heart sank. It was barely big enough for a single person to squeeze into uncomfortably. But it would have to do.

He carefully slipped Annabeth into the crack, and whirled around to face the monsters.

The hellhounds surrounded him on all sides, their red eyes burning with pure hatred and black slobber dripping from gaping pink maws. Gross.

Percy raised Riptide and cried out in pain as he jerked the muscles in his back, causing even more spots to dance in front of his eyes. The claw marks on his back seemed to throb in time with his heartbeat, and every movement was agony.

A hellhound pounced at him and Percy swung his sword, gritting his teeth as pain shot up and down his spine, almost causing him to drop Riptide. He barely nicked the thing's neck.

Sweat poured down his forehead, the salt stinging against the wounds in his back. He sluggishly swung at whatever came into his reach, but he was tiring fast. The pain was becoming overwhelming.

Percy knew it was over when the edges of his vision began to turn black and fuzzy as he began to pass out. He fought against unconsciousness, struggling to keep his sword raised, but the pain was too much. He began to feel dizzy from the lack of blood. In slow motion, he fell to the ground, landing with a painful jerk on his hands and knees.

He knelt there, waiting for the hellhounds to finish him off, waiting for a horrible pain followed by blackness. But nothing happened. He glanced up and saw them slowly retreating. What? Before he knew it, they were gone, blending in with the darkness that consumed the pit.

He closed his eyes, letting the blackness start to take over.

He heard a small moan beside him. Annabeth.

His eyes shot open. Annabeth was here. And she was hurt.

He slowly scooted around so he was facing her, crawling up to her side.

Her face was drawn and white, the bump on her head still oozing blood.

Percy pulled her pack of her shoulders with clumsy fingers and opened it. He saw the familiar Ziploc bag and sighed with relief. But when he pulled it out, all that it contained was a few remaining crumbs. Panic welled up inside of him, and he frantically searched through the pack. His fingers closed around a cold metal canteen and he yanked it out and shook it slightly. His heart sank once more as he heard the hollow sound of the liquid sloshing around inside. It was almost empty.

He screwed off the lid and poured the nectar onto Annabeth's forehead.

The color slowly returned to her face as the cut healed and the bump began to disappear.

Percy sank onto his stomach next to her, unable to stay awake any longer. He watched her face hungrily, determined to make her the last thing he ever saw. As Annabeth began to stir, his eyes closed and he let the blackness overcome him.

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**So what do you think? Let me know in a review! Constructive criticism is accepted and appreciated.**

**I will try to get the next chapter up tomorrow. I might slow down my update times a bit, because I still have to wrap the writing up toward the end. Unfortunately, two of the scenes I'm missing are EXTREMELY essential for this to be called complete.**

**Check out my other stories and vote on my poll! The poll question is very simple: 'Who do you think is most likely to close the Doors of Death?'**

**Oh, and I set a hold on the REAL "House of Hades" yesterday! So excited! ;D**

**Hey, how many people actually read author's notes? Just wondering if I'm the only one.**


	3. LEO III

**9-21-13**

**Thank you Aleeta6 for reviewing again!**

**Also, Aleeta6, the book comes out on the eighth! I won't get to read it until about a month later (it has to come in from the library and then my mom has to proof read it) and most other people don't get copies until later, so you might be good. Or you can just buy a copy in Virginia! ;D Best souvenir ever, huh? Funny, we just came back from Virginia this evening... Are you going to hit Colonial Williamsburg?**

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**LEO**

**Leo banged his head against the cafeteria table.** _Ow_, he thought miserably. He had asked Coach Hedge to take over the controls for the night so he could try to translate the Archimedes scrolls. Keyword, try. His eyes were swimming with Greek characters that he couldn't read, and his brain hurt. Now his forehead hurt. He banged his head on the table again. _Ow_.

He plopped his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands. This was hopeless. He'd skipped his Ancient Greek classes in favor of working on the Argo II. Now, he wished he'd attended a couple. He let his hands move, and his head dropped like a stone to the surface of the table. _SLAM! OW!_

He sighed into the smooth wood.

He was so stupid. This entire quest had been full of mess-ups that all somehow cycled back to Leo. First, he'd blowtorched New Rome, thus causing the Romans to view them as enemies; then he'd forgotten to turn on the sonar, which resulted in the Shrimpzilla attack, almost destroying the ship and killing him and his friends; and his latest mistake was the worst: he'd opened that stupid cookie and gotten Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus.

Something cold and wet splashed onto the table, and he realized with a shock that he was crying.

Wow, he'd been crying a lot lately. First when Festus died, then when he had seen his mom in the flashback with Hazel.

Sheesh, I'm becoming a regular ole cry baby, he thought miserably.

Before then, the last time he'd cried had been his mom's death. His motto had always been to keep moving; he could never stay in one place too long before his emotions caught up with him. Then he'd run away again.

He had been at Camp Half-Blood for several months, of course—a new record—but he had been too busy working on the _Argo II_ to really think about anything else. Now that he was no longer running, or working his butt off, his feelings had finally caught up. The loss of his mother hit him in a fresh wave. His breath came in ragged gasps as he struggled to keep his grief at bay, but it didn't work. Tears rolled down his cheeks and onto the tabletop.

He carefully pushed away the Archimedes scrolls to avoid getting any moisture on them.

He was useless. A seventh wheel. Just like Nemesis had said. He was good for nothing but trouble.

He buried his face into his crossed arms, and just let the tears flow.

He wished he could just run away. Run away from his grief, run away from this quest, run away from Gaea, run away from this crazy world of Greek mythology. But most of all, he wished he could run away from himself. To just pull away from the disasters that followed him everywhere, from his stupid looks, and sense of humor. No one seemed to like him, so why should he stay around?

But something held him back. Camp Half-Blood was the first place he had felt he belonged since his mother's death. They had seemed to accept him. His soul had finally been at peace during his few months there. Well, sure he had almost killed himself finishing the _Argo II_, but at least he had somewhere safe to sleep at night and three meals a day, which was a pretty good improvement from what he had gotten on the streets. When he actually found the time to take advantage of them, at least.

He heard the door to the cafeteria creak open. Someone's light footsteps came toward him.

"Leo?"

It was Piper.

"Go 'way," he mumbled. The last thing he needed was sympathy.

He heard the scuffling of wood against wood as she pulled out a chair and sat down. Great.

A small hand placed itself on his shoulder. "Hey," she said softly. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just fine," he lied.

Silence.

He could tell she didn't believe him.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Translating the Archimedes scrolls," he mumbled, refusing to look up.

He could hear the slight shuffling of paper, and he knew she was looking at his blank notepad.

"I can see that," she said, sounding slightly amused.

Leo pulled his head out of his arms and angrily snatched the notepad out of her hands. "It's none of your business," he snapped.

Piper recoiled slightly in shock. "Leo, have you been…_crying_?"

Leo hastily scrubbed at his cheeks, removing any excess moisture. "No," he said simply. He picked up his pencil and began scribbling on the pad. "I'm busy. Could you please leave?"

"I'll help." She scooted the chair closer and picked the scroll Leo had been studying off the table.

Leo huffed in frustration and tried to snatch the scroll out of her hands.

Piper just swayed out of his reach and continued examining it.

"Let's see," she said, turning the scroll from side to side. "I believe the first line says, 'Construction of a Death Ray.'" She turned toward Leo, her eyebrows raised in question. "Death ray?"

Leo shrugged.

Piper turned back to the scroll. Her eyes scanned the crinkled parchment, her lips moving silently as she struggled to read the words. She picked up the pencil and began to write, then hesitated.

"This doesn't make any sense to me," she admitted. "I didn't get that far in my Greek lessons, and I don't get all this angle and trajectory stuff. The combination makes me feel woozy." She turned toward Leo and smiled warmly, though he noticed her eyes still shone with concern. "You get the math stuff, right? I translate, you make sure it makes sense?"

"Sure," Leo said hesitantly. He scooted a little closer, and watched as Piper slowly filled the notepad with her neat handwriting. "Too bad it's not in French."

Piper smiled. "Yeah. Or in Spanish."

Leo nodded in agreement.

"This would be a hundred times easier if we had a Greek expert," Piper stated. "Except…" She trailed off uncertainly.

Leo knew what she meant. The two Greek experts on this quest happened to be in Tartarus.

Tartarus.

Just thinking about it gave Leo the chills. The ultimate pit of evil that almost drove a son of Hades insane. The pit that had taken two of their friends.

He slammed his fist onto the table, causing Piper to jump. "It's my fault," he cried.

Piper looked at him, startled. "What's your fault, Leo?" she asked.

"That Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus," he announced, not meeting her gaze.

"Leo," she said gently. "How is that your fault?"

"I broke that cookie."

"What?"

Just then, the _Argo II_ shuddered, and rocked violently to the side, sending Piper and Leo tumbling to the deck, scrolls floating down all around them.

"What was that?" Piper gasped.

"Let's find out," said Leo, scrambling after the old scrolls. "But first, help me get these."

Together, they gathered the scrolls into a messy pile that Leo promptly shoved into the nearest drawer.

The ship rocked again, and Leo found himself rolling toward the opposite side of the room. He hit the wall with a crash. He tried to get up, but something heavy landed on top of him, shoving him against a real-time image of the Big House.

"Oof!" he exclaimed.

"Sorry!" said Piper.

The ship righted again, sending them crashing back to the floor.

Leo sat there, trying to catch his breath. "Boy, you're heavy," he gasped.

Piper looked at him sharply. "Are you saying I'm fat?"

"No. I'm saying you're heavy."

Piper sighed. "Come on, we'd better go see what's wrong."

They both stood, and ran to the deck.

~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~

At first, Leo thought the Coach had started a pillow fight. There were feathers everywhere. But as he looked closer, he could see dark shapes amongst the feathers. They looked like…

"Horses?" Leo asked.

"Not horses," Piper said. "Pegasi."

Sure enough, as soon as she said it, a winged-horse clattered onto the deck right in front of them.

It whinnied loudly, rearing up on its hind legs. It snorted angrily and glared at Piper and Leo.

"I'm guessing these are not tame," Leo said.

It whinnied again, then trotted forward until it was nose to nose with Leo.

"Uh, nice horse," Leo said. "Please don't kill me."

Then, it did something really strange: it smiled at him.

"Leo, look out!" someone called.

He turned and saw Hazel running toward him.

"When horses smile, they're about to bite you!"

Well, that was backward.

Nonetheless, Leo jumped to the side. Just in time. A long muzzle filled with a couple dozen giant, squarish teeth snapped right next to his ear.

Leo yelped in surprise. "Bad horse!" he chided.

The pegasus didn't seem to like that. It reared, whinnying angrily, and Leo barely had time to dodge before two cloven hooves slammed down on the deck where he's been standing two seconds before.

"What is going on?" Piper yelled over the angry whinnying.

Just then, Jason staggered up. One of his shirt sleeves had been ripped off, probably by pegasus teeth. "We just flew into a flock of wild pegasi," he announced.

"Really? Never would have guessed," Leo said sarcastically.

"Valdez!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "Get over here and take over so I can get my baseball bat!"

Leo picked his way through the flying horses. If they hadn't been trying to avoid him, he probably wouldn't have made it to the controls. As it were, they just snorted at him and swerved away.

Geez, he felt loved. Even the horses hated him.

He took the helm, and Coach Hedge shot off like a rocket. Or at least, he tried to.

The pegasi seemed to sense that he was going to harm them because they didn't move like they had for Leo. Instead, they gathered around him, keeping him from getting to his baseball bat on the other side of the deck.

The Coach cursed and kicked at them with his hooves, but they just pranced out of the way. Then, he did something really weird: he made a three-claw gesture over his heart, like he was…crossing himself?

Whatever it was, the effect was instantaneous.

All the pegasi in front of the coach reared skittishly and dove out of his way. Well, not exactly dove. More like they had been shoved by some invisible force.

"Whoo! That's what I'm talking about!" Coach yelled, pumping his fists in the air as he took off after his baseball bat.

"C-Coach?" Piper stammered. "What was that?"

"Who cares what it was," Jason said. "As long as it works! Leo, get us out of here!"

"I'm trying!" Leo cried. He wrestled with the controls, trying to keep the ship from keeling as pegasi slammed into the sides, rocking it back and forth. "I can't see anything!" he exclaimed. "Which way should I go?"

"It doesn't matter! Just away from here!" Jason yelled.

"Okay," Leo muttered. "Geez." Then louder, "Everybody, hold on! This is gonna get rough! Well, rougher." He grabbed a Wii controller, and swished it downward. The entire ship tilted toward the ground, and shot off like an arrow. Leo could hear his friends screaming in the background as the wind whistled past. Or maybe it was him, he wasn't sure.

The whinnying of the pegasi faded as they flew farther and farther down.  
As soon as his vision wasn't clouded by feathers, Leo leveled out. They were now only about five hundred feet above ground.

Leo wiped the sweat off his forehead. He turned around to look at his friends, and was barely able to keep his laughter in check.

Piper's hair stuck out all angles, so she looked like she had just been tasered. Nico's hair wasn't much better, and with the aviator jacket, silver skull ring, and ripped black jeans, he could almost pass for emo. Hazel's hair was even worse, with her curls tangled and feathers sticking out everywhere, making it look like a bird had made a nest on her head. Jason's hair was perfect, as usual. Frank, however, had just taken a shower, so the feathers stuck all over his wet body and made him look like a giant black penguin with a buzz cut.

Leo gagged slightly. "You guys look…interesting," he managed.

Piper snorted indignantly. "As if you looked any better."

Leo shrugged. "Yeah, well I can't see me."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Why do I even bother?" she said to nobody in particular.

Jason sighed, flicking a stray feather from his clothes. "Okay, everybody. Let's get cleaned up."

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**So what do you think? Let me know in a review! Constructive criticism is accepted and appreciated.**

**Lucky you! You got two chapters today! That's because I wanted to fix something up in chapter one and change chapter two (which I wrote on the car ride home) and since I all ready published this chapter, I decided to keep it up. Except as chapter three, of course.**

**So I'm EXTREMELY close to finishing this now (I worked for an hour straight on this thing at the start of the ride) so I might be able to keep up daily updates! Except I've got a LOT of co-op homework, school work, and other stuff going on this week, so no guarentees.**

**Check out my other stories and vote on my poll!**

**See y'all in a day or two!**


	4. LEO IV

**9-22-13**

**Thank you Aleeta6 for reviewing!**

**Special shout out to Liana Legaspi who betaed this chapter for me! Check out her stories, they're AMAZING!**

**Hey guys! I wasn't planning on updating today, but I decided that I would because…well, just because.**

**Enjoy!**

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**LEO**

**Leo sat at the cafeteria table, feeling utterly exhausted.** His friends sat around him, each one almost feather free. They had decided to give Coach Hedge (and Leo) a break, and were currently hovering over a random bunch of hills. As far as Leo knew, the Coach was watching some random cage match in his room at the moment.

"Well that was…different," he commented.

"You can say that again," Piper groaned.

"And again," Jason sighed.

"And again," Hazel said, her eyes twinkling.

"What?" Frank asked, looking confused.

The others glanced at each other in amusement.

"Oh, nothing, Frank," Hazel giggled.

"So, now what?" Piper said. "We didn't really leave Rome with a plan of action."

Jason shrugged. "We were kind of in a hurry. Anyways, we should probably start with the facts. What do we know about our enemies and their plans?"

"We know the Doors of Death are in Epirus, Greece," Hazel volunteered.

"We know that Gaea is planning some sort of sacrifice that'll wake her up," Frank said hesitantly.

"Yeah, a male and female demigod," Piper said. She made a sour face. "Ugh, that was almost me and J—" she hesitated. "One of the boys."

Something stirred in Leo's mind. She had almost said 'Jason.' And if it had almost been _Jason_ who was taken with her, then that would mean…

Then it hit him. It hit him so hard, he felt like he'd just been sucker-punched in the gut. "Hold it!" Leo exclaimed, sitting up in his chair with his hands up in the timeout gesture.

Jason looked at Leo cautiously. "What is it Leo?" he asked.

Leo didn't notice his wary look as he charged into his explanation. "Gaea wants a male and female demigod to help her awaken, right?"

"Uh, that's what I just said," Piper said.

Leo waved his hand dismissively. "I know, but that's not the point. Gaea doesn't want just any demigods. She wants a couple."

Everyone stared at him like he had gone wacko.

"Leo," Piper said carefully. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay," he said in exasperation. "You guys don't get it, do you? Don't you see that Gaea isn't interested in me? In the workshop, she said specifically that Frank and Hazel would be the sacrifices. Why not me? And I am _perfectly_ fine with not being breakfast for Queen Dirt Face, but we won't go there. The point is, remember that they said about Percy and Annabeth being 'most suited' for the role?"

Once again, everyone nodded. Leo could tell they didn't quite know where he was going with this, but he was too excited to care. He started smelling smoke. He hoped Coach hadn't found their stock of Greek fire.

"Well we all thought it was because they're, like, mindbogglingly powerful, right? Well that's part of the reason. The real reason is they have the strongest bond."

"Leo!" Jason yelled, jumping to his feet. "You're on fire again!"

Leo looked down as Frank and Hazel dove off the bench next to him, and sure enough, his body was starting to glow with heat in his excitement. Just like up on that bridge. But Leo couldn't stop now.

"No! You guys still don't get it? Really? Gaea is after demigods with—how should I put this?—romantic connections. That's why she was going to use Frank and Hazel, not me, when she trapped us in that cave. They have a romantic connection, I don't. Percy and Annabeth are the ideal couple because not only are they super powerful demigods, but they have the strongest bond between each other. Get it?"

"I'm sure you're on to something, Leo," Piper soothed. "But right now, you really need to…_TURN YOURSELF OFF BEFORE I GET OUT THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER_!" she screamed.

Leo whirled towards her, surprised by her sudden outburst. He looked around and he realized he was the only one still sitting at the cafeteria table, smoke rolling off his body as he got hotter and hotter. He would burst into flames any second now.

"There's a bucket of ice water in the fridge behind you, Pipes!" Jason yelled. "Dump it on him!"

Piper turned around, opened said fridge, and stuck her head in.

Leo backed away as she emerged, struggling under the weight of a three gallon bucket with a lid.

Jason hurried over to help her. He ripped off the lid, revealing that it was filled to the brim with water and ice.

"Oh no," Leo stammered. "I can turn myself off."

Piper raised an amused eyebrow. "Can you?"

Leo opened his mouth to reply, but he found it filled with ice cold water as Piper and Jason dumped the entire contents of the bucket on his head. Leo found himself spread eagle on the floor, gasping like a fish out of water.

"Sorry," Piper said, but her kaleidoscope eyes glittered with amusement.

Leo sat up and shook his wet hair out of his face. He shivered as the cold from the water seeped into his skin. "Jeez, guys, if I get hypothermia, you're stuck taking care of me."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Repair Boy." She offered her hand and Leo took it, pulling himself up.

He rubbed his arms, trying to get the warmth back into them. "How'd that bucket get in there, anyways? I know for a fact there was nothing like that in there when we left Camp Half-Blood."

Piper looked amused. "Jason asked Percy to put it there in case you had another…ah, incident like on the ice bridge. Good thing he did, huh?"

"Right," Jason said, looking slightly dazed. He pointed a finger at Leo. "What was that you were saying? Gaea wants demigods with romantic connections?"

Leo nodded. "Don't you get it? That's why they said Percy and Annabeth were best suited for the job. They have, no contest, the strongest bond. No offense to you guys."

Hazel piped in from the corner, where Leo realized that she and Frank had retreated into when he started flaming. "Why would that make a difference? I mean, whether they're a couple or not."

"Yeah, Leo," Piper joined. "Gaea asked me to choose which boy went down with me back in Kansas. I don't have any 'connection,' as you put it, with Percy. How can you explain that?"

Leo had never been so sure about anything in his life. He didn't know how this was important, but he knew it was. He wasn't going to get his idea shot down like that. "The eidolons were in control of them, right? Well, Gaea probably figured that you would choose Jason, and if you didn't, she still could have had Jason kill Percy."

Jason winced. "Could we not talk about that?" he pleaded.

"Um, no offense," Frank cut in, "but I don't see Jason just killing Percy like that. Percy's way too strong and powerful. I don't see him killing you that easily either," Frank quickly assured Jason. "I'm just saying that Percy is not going to go down without a fight, possessed or not."

"But why would a couple make a difference?" Hazel repeated.

Everyone looked at Leo.

"Look, I don't know why Gaea would need a romantic couple specifically, but it just makes sense, okay?" Leo said. He felt like an idiot. He had no proof for what he had said, and then he goes and almost burns down the ship in his excitement to tell everyone his unfounded idea. Oops. Then he realized something else. His eyes widened. "Uh oh," he muttered.

"What is it?" Piper asked.

"Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus, right?" Leo said.

Piper looked at him like he was crazy. "Yeah."

"And Tartarus is in the ground, right?"

"Yeah."

"And Gaea's the earth goddess, right?"

"Oh my gods," Piper gasped.

Jason's eyes widened, and Hazel looked horrified.

"Your point?" Frank demanded, still clueless.

"She needs a male and female demigod to awaken, right?"

Frank's face went through an interesting change of expression, from incomprehension, to shock, to anger as he realized that Percy and Annabeth were entirely at the mercy of Mother Earth.

"You want to know something else?" Leo asked quietly.

Everyone stared at him, but Leo barreled on anyway. "Gaea married the spirit of Tartarus as a second husband, right? So wouldn't Tartarus try extra hard to kill them?"

"Leo," Piper pleaded. "Please, stop."

Leo closed his mouth with a snap. He hadn't meant to be so pessimistic.  
Everyone sat in silence, staring at Leo, who began shifting uncomfortably under their piercing stares.

After what seemed like forever, Jason finally spoke up. "Well, now what?"

"Fly to the Doors," Leo suggested. "Without dying, would be nice."

"We're _all ready_ flying to the Doors," Frank snapped.

Leo held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Sorry, man, didn't mean to annoy you."

"Well you already annoy me," Frank announced. "A lot."

Leo raised an amused eyebrow, unsurprised. "Do I, now?" he said. He knew he was annoying. In fact, he was surprised it had taken so long for Frank to say it.

Frank seemed to take Leo's lack of caring as a challenge.

"Yes, you do," he said.

"Frank!" Hazel gasped in horror.

Leo waved his hand dismissively. "It's okay, I get that a lot."

Frank's eyebrows scrunched together, making him look like a babyish Wolverine. "But you're more than annoying," he insisted. "You're…annoying."

Leo raised his other eyebrow and looked around the table, raising his arms dramatically. "You hear that?" he said. "I'm more than just annoying. I am annoying."

Frank's face turned cherry red as the others smiled slightly at Leo's little joke. "This is exactly what I mean!" he exclaimed. "You're constantly making fun of people, especially me. And you think everything's a joke. Well has it dawned on you yet that we are on the brink of _war_? Has it ever occurred to you that life is not one big joke?"

For some reason, that made Leo angry. If only Frank knew. "Life is short," he lied. "I intend to enjoy it as much as possible. _You_, of all people, should understand that considering that stick of yours."

"Leo!" Hazel exclaimed.

Frank looked like he had just been slapped in the face.

"What stick?" Jason asked, looking confused.

Leo realized too late what he had just said. He shouldn't have mentioned Frank's lifeline. That was crossing the line cruel. And nobody else at the table even knew about it yet; that he knew of, anyway. But it was too late to take it back. He silently cursed himself for speaking. Stupid ADHD. He always spoke without thinking.

Frank's hands balled into fists. "Oh yeah?" he yelled. "Well I'm not the only one in this group who doesn't have a girlfriend! I'm not the odd one out!"

"Frank!" Hazel pleaded.

Leo felt his heart stop. He sat there, frozen, staring at Frank in incomprehension. Slowly, it sank in. Nemesis's words once more sprang unbidden into his mind: _You will never find a place among your brethren._

"Thanks for reminding me," he hissed. "You don't think I know that? You don't think that I recognize the fact that I'm the seventh wheel? A mistake? This entire quest has been me making error after error, putting everyone in danger. First, I fired on New Rome, and, possessed or not, the Romans took that in a bad way, and we were chased the width of America by bloodthirsty legionnaires. Then I forgot to switch out the radar for the sonar, and nearly got everybody killed in the Shrimpzilla attack."

"Leo," Piper interrupted, but he plowed on.

"And you want to know my latest and greatest mistake? Well I landed Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus. That was me. A hundred percent me. Now you all have one more thing to add to your list of 'Why I Hate Leo Valdez.'"

Everyone stared at him in shock, their faces the perfect pictures of surprise.  
He stood abruptly, knocking his chair over in the process. He didn't bother picking it up as he stomped over to the door. He stopped in the doorway and turned, spreading his arms wide. "You just had a glimpse of the Hades that is my life. This is the real Leo Valdez. This is what lies under the jokes." He bowed mockingly. "I believe this is my exit. I hope you enjoyed your brief moments in Leo World, because your passes are now expired. Good bye."

"Leo, wait!" Hazel called, getting over her shock.

He ignored her, running out the door. Halfway down the hall, he heard footsteps behind him, and whirled around in surprise.

Piper and Hazel stood in the doorway of the cafeteria, their expressions shocked and concerned.

"Leo!" Piper called when she saw him.

He turned and bolted.

"Leo, wait!"

He kept going, down the hall, up the stairs, and onto the deck. He dropped the rope ladder over the side and swung over the railing. He clambered down the ladder as fast as he could, but the end was still about fifteen feet above the ground. He dropped lightly to the ground—he'd jumped out of many second story windows in his lifetime—then dashed blindly into the hills, not knowing or caring where he was going.

He just knew he had to get _away_. Away from his feelings. Away from this stupid quest. Away from people. Here he was running again. It seemed the Fates would never allow him to stop. It was now part of his nature to run away. It was the only solution that Leo had ever found, besides joking around. And now, he knew, his jokes were _annoying_ to everyone around him. _He_ was annoying to everyone around him. Nobody wanted him around? Fine. Plan B.

_A seventh wheel._

It had been bad enough when Nemesis had said it. Hearing one of the crew, even if it was Frank, say outright that he was an outsider just confirmed it, which made Leo feel even worse.

Something wet rolled down his cheek, and he realized that he was crying for the second time in one day. He needed to get his head examined.

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**WAIT! Before you go hitting the back button, Leo's not gone! In fact, he's back in the next chapter! Bear with me please!**

**So, I know this is a little OOC for Leo, but I honestly think Rick was leading up to something similar to this. Leo's all ready close to the breaking point at the end of "Mark of Athena," and in the first chapter of "House of Hades," Hazel points out that Leo's acting angrier than usual. That's my thought process here. Plus, I love angsty Leo ;)**

**So what did you think? Let me know in a review! Constructive criticism is accepted and appreciated.**

**Check out my other stories and vote on my poll! Thanks to everyone who all ready has!**


	5. PIPER V

**9-23-13**

**Holy smokes! I wasn't expecting so much feedback! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited this story! Thank you Aleeta6 for reviewing! Thank you ashleyvb11 for following! Thank you Jamieandtj for reviewing, favoriting, and following! You guys made my day!**

**So, I know this chapter is a little later in the day. Sorry :P**

**Enjoy!**

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**PIPER**

**Piper jumped over the rail of the ****_Argo II_****, and began climbing down the ladder.**

"Stay here!" she told Hazel.

Hazel didn't look happy about it, but she nodded.

Piper leapt of the end of the ladder and rolled to cushion her landing. She jumped to her feet and turned her attention back to the figure in front of her.

Leo was already halfway up the first hill. Since when could he run so fast?

"Leo, wait!" she called, racing after him.

She saw him glance over his shoulder, and then speed up.

"Leo, please wait!" she pleaded. She felt slightly guilty, but she added a little charmspeak to her words. It seemed like the only way to get Leo to stop.

She saw him slow down, then come to a stop at the top of the hill. He turned and watched her climb up after him, looking ready to bolt at the slightest provocation.

Piper's heart ached to see him like that. What had happened to the crazy joker Leo? What had happened to turn him into this?

She came up beside Leo and reached out to grab his arm.

He jerked away from her, his expression panicked. "Don't touch me!" he cried. "Leave me alone! I don't want to hurt anybody!"

She started back in surprise. "What?" she said. "Leo, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk."

"That's what they all say," he mumbled under his breath.

Piper was thoroughly confused now. "That's what who say?"

"Oh, policemen, truancy officers, foster care, bullies, gangs," he grumbled, "the list is endless."

Piper felt her heart stop. "Leo, when did all this happen?"

"I've been on the run since I was eight. When do you think it happened?"

Piper opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it. She didn't want him to start running again.

Leo glanced down the hill like he was planning an escape route.

"Wait," she said, and his eyes swiveled to look at her.

Piper took a step backward in shock. His warm brown eyes, normally so full of light and mirth, were radiating pain and hurt, like he'd been holding in a deep sadness that had just now resurfaced. She realized with horror that this was what had been hiding under his carefree surface all this time. How could she not have noticed it before?

She realized he was waiting for an answer. She swallowed painfully, and managed to speak. "I just want to talk. Just let me talk."

Leo hesitated. She could tell he was weighing the pros and cons.

Finally, he nodded slightly. "Fine."

"Leo, what's wrong?" she asked softly. "I've never seen you like this before."

"Of course you haven't," he muttered so quietly, Piper had to strain to hear the words.

She decided to let it slide. It would do her no good to demand that he spill his entire life story and explain all his feelings. She would probably just scare him away.

"What's wrong?" she repeated. "Would you at least tell me why you're like this?"

He glanced up at her, then looked down at the ground.

Suddenly, Piper remembered something. "Hey, didn't you say that it was your fault Percy and Annabeth were in Tartarus? By breaking a cookie? And then we got cut off by those pegasi. What was that about?"

Leo took a deep breath. "Well, you know how Hazel and I went to that island in the middle of the Great Salt Lake?"

Piper nodded.

"Well, we ran into Nemesis."

"Hazel told me."

He glanced at her warily. "She told you what Nemesis said?"

Piper tried to think. "No," she said. "All she said was that you'd met Nemesis."  
He groaned. "Great, now I've got to tell you the whole story. Well, we met Nemesis. And she said some stuff about balance and seventh wheels and stuff. Long story short, she gave me a fortune cookie that if I opened it, it would give me the answer to any question I asked. For a price. When Frank, Hazel, and I were trapped in that underground chamber because of Gaea, I opened that cookie to get the code for the master Archimedes sphere so I could override the eidolons and keep Frank and Hazel from being electrocuted. The price was Percy and Annabeth. You happy now?"

He stared down at his shoes, looking like he expected her to hit him, or yell at him, or something.

All Piper could do was stare at him in shock. _That's_ what was making him so angry? How could that have been his fault? She felt her eyes tearing up. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

He looked up and seemed shocked that she was crying and not slapping him.

"Oh, Leo," she cried, "why didn't you tell me? That wasn't your fault. How could you carry that guilt for so long for something you didn't even do?"

He stared at her, looking stunned. "You—you're not mad at me?"

She laughed lightly. "Why would I be? It was something beyond your control. You didn't know what would happen. Besides, Hazel and Frank wouldn't even be here today without your quick thinking. Have you thought of it that way?"

He seemed to consider this. "No, I guess not. But I still caused it."

She sighed, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "Leo, please. Don't blame yourself. Jason won't stop cursing himself for not flying down and saving them, though from what I've heard about the suction from that pit, all he would have accomplished was landing himself in Tartarus too. And then where would we be?"

"Completely leaderless and off to save the world with a bunch of rookies," Leo guessed.

"Exactly. According to Hazel, Frank is having issues with guilt too. The last thing we need is to have all three of you moaning about it all being your fault."

"We're already doing just that," Leo pointed out.

Piper nodded thoughtfully. "I guess you're right. Huh. Let's go knock some sense into the other boys, shall we?"

Leo smiled, which was the best thing Piper had seen all day. "Sure," he agreed, rubbing his hands together gleefully. "This could be fun. I think Coach will be the best with that big ole baseball bat of his—"

"Leo," she interrupted, "I didn't mean literally."

He seemed to droop. "Oh, man. And I was all ready to watch Hedge break a world record: farthest distance demigods have been hit with a baseball bat."

Piper laughed. Leo was back. And he was his usual crazy self. "Oh, Leo," she said, still chuckling.

She held out her hand. "You ready to go back?"

He hesitated. He tentatively reached out and took it. "Okay," he said. "Just one thing."

Piper raised her eyebrows at him. "What?"

"I don't want everybody thinking I'm fragile," he said. "I don't want them to treat me like I'm some nervous wreck who will break down at the littlest thing. This was a one time thing, okay?"

Piper almost pointed out that she had seen him crying in the cafeteria earlier, but she decided against it. "Okay," she said. "I won't. I'll tell the others."

Leo nodded in appreciation.

"Ready to go?" said Piper.

Leo hesitated. His eyes wandered toward the other side of the hill. "Sure," he said finally.

Piper smiled at him. "That's my big brave Repair Boy," she teased.

He grinned. "Whatever, Beauty Queen."

Piper smiled back. Then, she got an idea. She took off down the hill, calling over her shoulder at Leo. "Race you!"

"Hey, no fair!" he yelled.

She laughed, and kept running, going as fast as she could.

She was almost to the ladder. Twenty feet…fifteen feet…ten…

Leo rocketed by her, leaping the last three feet and shooting up the rungs like a squirrel.

"Hey!" Piper exclaimed.

Leo paused and grinned cheekily down at her. "All is fair in love and war!" he shouted. Then he continued climbing.

By the time Piper reached the ladder, he was already halfway up.

She shook her head in annoyance and kept climbing. She kept her eyes on the rungs in front of her, not daring to look up or down for fear she might slip. Gods, it had been so much easier going down.

After about a minute, she bumped her head on something.

"Ow!" she complained.

She looked up at the offending object, and was surprised to see it was Leo's foot.

"Leo," she said. "Why'd you stop?" They were still about five feet below the rails of the _Argo II_.

He looked down sheepishly. "Er, would you mind going first?"

"Why?"

He turned and stared at the belly of the ship. "Um…"

Then it dawned on her. Leo was afraid of what the others would think. After an outburst like that, Piper would never have been able to face her friends. "Okay," she agreed.

Leo swung over so he was on the opposite side of the ladder, his back brushing against the wood of the ship.

Piper climbed on top of him, sighing in relief as she reached the railing. She swung over onto the deck, and turned to help Leo. She was slightly startled to see him right behind her.

"Oh, gods!" she exclaimed, jumping slightly.

Leo gave her a puzzled look. "What? My hair on fire?"

"No, just didn't expect to see you there."

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

Piper turned and was surprised to find the deck empty.

"Where is everybody?" she wondered aloud.

"I told them to stay in the cafeteria," said a voice.

For the second time in under ten seconds, Piper jumped.

Nico di Angelo materialized from the shadows of the stairwell.

"Figured you didn't want to talk to them just yet," he said, nodding toward Leo.

Leo shifted his feet and stared at the ground. "Um, yeah, about that—"

"It's okay," Nico said. "I remember doing something very similar when Percy told me my sister Bianca had died." He smiled grimly. "Only when I ran off, I didn't come back."

Piper stared at him, startled. "You ran away?"

Nico shrugged. "From Camp Half-Blood. I was angry. I actually hated Percy for about a year after that. Took awhile for me to realize that it wasn't his fault. I was just looking for someone to blame for all my problems, and unfortunately Percy fit the bill." He turned back toward Leo. "That took guts turning back, Leo. What made you do it?"

Leo glanced at Piper, then back at his feet. "I guess I'm just tired of running," he said. "That's what I've done all my life, and I was about to do it again. Piper actually convinced me not to."

Nico studied him. "And you listened. Which is more than I can say for myself." He chuckled drily. "I didn't even try to get the whole story. Good job, Leo." He nodded toward the stairs. "You should get some rest. It's gonna be a long day tomorrow."

Leo nodded, and went to head down the stairs.

"And Leo?" Nico called.

Leo turned.

"Don't try to sneak away tonight. I'll be watching," Nico said, smiling.

Leo cracked a smile. "Yes, sir." He gave a small salute. Then he headed down the stairs.

Piper started to follow, but Nico called her back.

"Wait."

Piper stopped and gave him a questioning look.

"Thanks for stopping him. I don't think Hazel could stand it if he ran away blaming himself," he said.

"What do you mean?"

Nico hesitated. "Hazel had a friend," he said. "A guy named Sammy. Long story short, Sammy blamed himself for Hazel moving away." He paused. Then, in a low voice, he said, "Sammy was Leo's great grandpa."

Piper stared at him in shock. "No way," she whispered. Then something hit her. "Wait, how could Hazel have been friends with Leo's great grandpa? She's not that old."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "I would have thought Percy or Hazel would have told you by now."

Piper shook her head.

Nico sighed. He told her Hazel's story.

By the time he finished, Piper felt like she had been hit by a bowling ball. "She's from the 1940s?" she gasped in shock.

Nico nodded, studying her closely.

Piper realized with a guilty start that he was seeing how she took it. How she thought of his sister.

"Wow," she breathed. "At least some friendly souls can come back as well as evil." She shuddered at the thought of Medea back in Chicago. That had been an experience she could have done without.

"She sacrificed herself to stop Alcyoneus from rising?" she said. "And gave up Elysium for her mom? I don't think I could've done that," she said honestly. "That was really brave."

Nico nodded again, looking satisfied.

Without meaning to, Piper yawned. It was only about eight in the evening, but when you're a demigod, you tended to get tired a lot faster after a day of fighting for your life.

Nico quirked an eyebrow. "Tired?"

Piper nodded apologetically. "Yeah, a little bit."

Nico gestured to the stairs. "Go on ahead. You might want to give the others an update." He turned to gaze at the sun setting in the distance. "I'll follow in a minute. I just need some time to think."

Piper started down the stairs, then remembered something. "Hey," she called.  
Nico glanced at her.

"Thanks for talking to Leo. I think you did a better job than I did."

He gave her a ghost of a smile. "Yeah, it helps when you've been through the same thing." He made a shooing gesture with his hand. "Go on, the others are probably gonna die from suspense."

Piper laughed. "Okay, okay, I'm going," she said, pretending to sound annoyed. She headed down the hall and opened the door to the cafeteria.

Three anxious pairs of eyed turned toward her.

"Where's Leo?" Hazel demanded.

Piper stepped inside and closed the door behind her. "He's in his room. No, he's not in timeout," she said.

Jason and Hazel smiled slightly, but Frank looked extremely guilty.

"Oh gods," he stammered. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make him do that. I shouldn't have said anything, I'm so stupid—"

"Whoa!" Piper exclaimed. "It's okay, Frank. He doesn't blame you."

Frank still looked unsure. "But—"

"Frank," Hazel interrupted. "You're fine."

Piper took a seat at the table.

"So how is he?" Jason asked. "What brought that on? What does he mean that it was his fault that Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus?"

Piper glanced at Hazel. "You didn't tell them?"

Hazel looked embarrassed. "No. I was waiting for you guys to get back."

"It's okay," Piper assured her. "That was a good idea."

She studied Hazel closely. She sure didn't look like she had some back from the dead. But then, Medea and King Midas sure hadn't looked dead. She quickly looked away before anyone noticed her staring.

She told the others what Leo had told her.

"That wasn't his fault," Jason protested. "How could he have thought it was his fault?"

Piper shrugged. "Beats me." She pointed an accusing finger at the two boys. "But I could say the same for you two. It wasn't your fault either. If you had flown down there, you would've been sucked in too."

"Yeah, Hazel told me that," Frank said, his cheeks slightly red.

They remained silent for a few moments.

"Well, I think it's time you all got to bed," said Jason. "I'll take the night watch."

"Me too," said Frank.

Everyone nodded, and stood up.

"One more thing," Piper said.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"Leo doesn't want us to treat him any different," she said. "He doesn't want us to think he's going to flip out over every little thing. He says this was a one time thing, and it won't happen again."

They all looked a little doubtful, but they agreed.

Piper followed them out into the hall. She was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. Somehow, she managed to make it to her bedroom where she promptly collapsed onto her bed and fell asleep.

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**So what did you think? I know the end is a little strange, and I'm honestly not sure how Nico got in there, but it's one of those cases where I just start typing and something completely unexpected pops out. Drop a review anyway?**

**So, the next chapter is going to be ****_extremely_**** long because I'm combining two chapters so I keep with two chapters a character. The next two chapters have yet to be written, but I know exactly what I'm gonna do. I'm going to be crazy busy the next few days, so it might take a bit for those to get out, so sorry!**

**Check out my other stories and vote on my poll! Thank you to everyone who all ready has!**

**And I'm starting a countdown per chapter! As of today, fifteen more days till the real "House of Hades" comes out!**


	6. PIPER VI

**9-25-13**

**Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't get this chapter out sooner. I've been SO busy lately. I'm technically supposed to be wrapping up my co-op homework right now. Ssssshhhh!**

**Thank you Aleeta6 for reviewing! Thank you Hermione Sparkle for favoriting and following! Thank you Boingaboo (love your username by the way) for favoriting and following! You guys made my day!**

**Also, thank you Liana Legaspi for once again betaing this chapter! If you guys haven't seen her stories yet, seriously, LOOK THEM UP! They are AMAZING!**

**Here's an extra long chapter for you guys!**

**Enjoy!**

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**PIPER**

**Piper woke up to insistent knocking on her door**. She rubbed her eyes groggily. "Okay, I'm up! What is it?"

"Okay if I come in?" asked Jason.

Piper smoothed out her rumpled clothes. She had been too tired to change the night before. She probably looked a mess. She combed her fingers through her untidy hair and called, "Sure, come on in."

Jason opened the door, his jaw clenched and his features set in grim lines.

"Oh, come on," Piper teased good naturedly. "What kind of greeting is that? Why so grumpy?"

"We're approaching the House of Hades."

Piper sobered up immediately. "How long?"

Jason considered this. "About a quarter of an hour, but we can already see it. There's…well…" He shook his head. "You should probably see it for yourself."

Piper scurried over to her dresser. "Just let me change my clothes."

Jason nodded. "See you up there."

He closed the door behind him, and Piper heard his footsteps echoing up the stairs.

~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~

Piper joined the other demigods on deck. All of them, with the exception of Leo who was at the helm and Coach Hedge, were staring over the railings, their faces set in grim lines.

"What's wrong?" asked Piper.

"We are going to die," said Frank flatly.

"It can't be that bad." Piper objected. No one answered her. Could it?

Piper looked over the railing and probably would have fallen over it in shock if Jason hadn't pulled her back up. She silently agreed with Frank. They were doomed. For a long time, all they did was stand and stare. Finally, Leo broke the silence, "So, anyone mind telling me how we're going to die?"

No one responded.

Leo made a sound that sounded like radio static. "Earth to the crew of the _Argo II_. Do you read me?" When no one even acknowledged him, Leo shouted, "Mayday! Mayday! Curiousity overload! Somebody say something before I explode from the suspense! Explosion time in five, four, three, two…"

Jason replied without looking away from the scene below, "Monsters. Hundreds of thousands of monsters."

Unfortunately, there was no exaggeration in what Jason had said. Almost directly below them was an enormous Greek temple. It was made out of black granite…_black_ granite. Piper hadn't known it was possible for something to look so evil. It was so dark that, even though it was marble, there was no glimmer to break the darkness. She could see directly inside to the Doors of Death. They were a giant pair of double doors, made out of the same midnight granite. One Door was open outwards into the temple, and she couldn't see the other, but she assumed that it was on the other side of the doorway. It was horrifying.

Sadly, that wasn't the worst part. Not by a long shot. Gathered around the entrance of the temple, and stretching miles off into the hills were hordes of monsters.

Yes, plural _hordes_. It was so large, just calling it an _army_ or a _horde_ wouldn't even begin to classify the number. There was no way they could take on that many.

Just then, Coach Hedge sauntered up the stairs. "What's up cupcakes?" He came over and looked over the rail. He grinned wolfishly—er, goatishly. "Finally! An army worthy of my fighting skills! Come on, we can take 'em easily!"

Jason blinked as if coming out of a trance. "We can't just charge in there, Coach. That would be suicide. There must be millions of monsters down there, plus the Doors will be open the whole time, so the ones we kill will just come right back at us." He stomped his foot in frustration. "We'd die before we reached the temple. This is impossible."

Piper couldn't believe this. Jason had _never_ been so pessimistic. He was always the leader, always confident and in control; always knowing what to do, and never giving up, no matter how impossible the situation seemed to be. He was always encouraging, always so sure things would work out. Now here he was, announcing that there was no way this was going to end well.

"I can't believe you, Jason," she cried. "After all Percy and Annabeth have sacrificed to get us this far, you're just giving up before you've even tried!"

Jason looked at her miserably. Before he could say anything, Leo cut in from the controls.

"Yeah. Annabeth knew perfectly well what she had to face, but she went on that quest anyways. She saved the one thing that can mend the gap between the Greeks and Romans."

"And Percy refused to let go of Annabeth, even though there was no way to save her. He fell with her into Tartarus," added Nico.

"They are risking their lives to save the world," Hazel said softly, "We owe them to try."  
Jason took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I know. It's just…depressing." He smashed his fist into the railing. "If I had just flown down and saved Percy and Annabeth, none of this would have happened. I'm a failure. I've spent more than half this quest unconscious. What kind of hero am I?"

Piper stared at him in shock. This was not the Jason she had come to know and love.

Leo called over, "Hey, Coach, can you take the controls real quick?" Coach Hedge took over and Leo waltzed over and put his head on Jason's forehead. "Temperature is normal, though I sense a slight case of depression." He pretended to write on an invisible pad with an invisible pen. He handed the 'paper' to Jason with a flourish. "I recommend a life and death situation against an undying army of monsters and…" He paused for effect. "A kiss from Beauty Queen!"

Piper and Jason blushed.

"Leo!" Piper complained, nudging him away, "That's not funny!" She looked at the other demigods.

Their faces were red with suppressed laughter. Frank let out a snort. That was the last straw.

Everyone started laughing, even Piper and Jason.

"This," Hazel wheezed between gales of laughter, "is the first time I've laughed in days."

"Yeah," laughed Jason, holding his stomach. "Thanks for the medicine, Doc."

Leo grinned and tapped his forehead knowingly, "Laughter is always the best medicine. By the way, you owe me twenty drachma, plus tax."

Jason slapped Leo on the back…hard. "No, I don't," he growled teasingly. "I didn't use your prescription."

Leo rubbed his back and put on an air of injured dignity. "But I caused the laughter, which counts. If you are not satisfied with the current result, you can redeem your medicine from the pharmacist—" He gestured dramtically at Piper who went red to the roots of her hair.

"Leo!" she protested.

Leo continued without acknowledging her, "Or, you can fly down there and kick some monster butt!"

He leaned towards Jason and whispered, "That would be another fifty drachmas for assaulting the Doctor."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Sorry, Leo. Fresh out of drachmas." He turned back to the others. "Back to business. We need a plan."

Everyone looked at Frank.

"What?" he complained.

"You're the son of Mars," explained Hazel.

Leo nodded. "Strategist extraordinaire."

Frank looked surprised. "But…that's what Jason does, right? I mean, son of Jupiter and all."

Jason shook his head. "Nope. Your turn. You've proved how good you are with strategies."

Frank blushed. "Uh, sure if you really want me to. I guess." He cleared his throat nervously. "So, first of all, we should probably stop flying towards them. If they see us, we'll start the fight before we're ready." He looked pointedly at Leo.

Leo huffed indignantly, "Yeah, sure." He looked piteously around the circle. "See? No one needs a son of Hephaeustus who could ignite at any moment and burn down the world." He staggered off to the controls, crying, "Woe is me!"

Frank shook his head. "How'd he spring back like that? After…you know."

Piper shrugged. "I have a feeling this isn't the first time he's learned to move on."

"Anyways," said Frank, "let's start with the facts. Any suggestions?"

"We are severly outnumbered," Hazel suggested.

"That's a severe understatement," Leo muttered under his breath as he rejoined them.

"I—er, we—have ballistae!" shouted Coach. "I—I mean we—can explode the monsters!"

"Their army can regenerate," Nico interjected, "Even if we manage to get our backs to the Doors, they'll still be swarming out from behind us."

Piper tried to think of something to add. How could they get to the Doors without dying and close their side? Suddenly, she realized a horrible truth. "Oh no," she whispered into the silence. She buried her face in her hands. "Oh no, oh no, oh no."

"What's wrong?" asked Jason.

Everybody was looking at her, but she didn't care. Her realization was a thousand times worse than being stared at. She turned her head to look at Nico. "The Doors have to be closed on both sides, right?"

Nico nodded. "Exactly. That's why Percy and Annabeth—"

"Are going to be stuck in Tartarus once the Doors are closed," Piper interrupted.

For a long time, nobody spoke.

"Never thought of that," stated Frank, his eyes wide in horror.

"Somebody's going to have to stay on the other side," Nico agreed. "I suppose that should be me."

"Nico, no!" Hazel objected. "We'll figure something out." She glanced desperately around the circle. "Won't we?"

"Of course, Hazel," Jason assured her, "Besides, Nico, I don't know if we'll even be able to get Percy and Annabeth out in the first place. Knowing Annabeth, she probably already knows that someone has to stay on the other side, and Percy won't be able to stand for it if someone was left behind. He would make sure it was him. Annabeth will never leave him, so that's that. Let's worry about it when the time comes."

"But—" Nico started.

"Jason's right," Frank interrupted. "We'll worry about it later. For now, let's worry about making it to the Doors. Any ideas?"

Once again, silence.

Finally, Leo spoke up, "Maybe we could just fight off Gaea's minions long enough to close the Doors?"

Jason shook his head immediately, "We would need an army before we can even consider that option. Six demigods versus all the nasties in the Greek world doesn't sound like very fair odds to me. We'll use that for an absolute worst case scenario only."

Leo nodded in understanding.

An idea began to spark in the back of Piper's mind. Jason had said, "We would need an army…" Where could they get an army?

Then it hit her. The answer was so obvious that she was surprised she hadn't thought about it before. Suddenly, that spark roared into a full fledged fire. She knew what to do.

~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~

Piper fiddled with the golden drachma in her hand. She had volunteered to do this, so why was she so nervous? It's not like the fate of the world relied on the success of this one message. Oh wait, it did.

She picked up the hose at her feet, and set it for spray. She tried to psyche herself to turn it on when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She turned her head and saw Jason standing behind her.

He smiled reassuringly, "You'll do fine."

_Ha!_ she wanted to say. He wasn't the one who would be doing the talking. But she knew he meant well.

She turned around and pressed the handle, causing a sheet of water to shoot from the hose. She angled it so that a rainbow glittered on the surface.

Leo duck taped the head to the mast, then retreated behind the other demigods, ducking behind Jason's broad shoulders.

Piper realized that he was hiding. Leo had more reason than any of them to fear this Iris Message. He was the one who had caused the Civil War in the first place. She felt her heart sink. Poor guy. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to have him in sight of the Romans... No. If Leo wasn't present, the Romans would think he was a coward.

She glanced over her shoulder. The other demigods were standing on the deck behind her. She felt her heart go out to them. They had been through so much together. They had been chased by the Roman legion across the U.S. They had crossed the Atlantic, and fought there way through the Mediterranean to Rome. They had rescued Hazel's brother Nico, and the Athena Parthenos. She loved them like family. Now, they were going to close the Doors of Death, save two of their members, and defeat Gaea. She couldn't have been happier anywhere on earth than she was onboard the _Argo II_. She realized that they were waiting for her and quickly shook herself out of it. Time for thinking later, she told herself angrily, but now, it was time to work.

"Everyone ready?" she called.

"Ready!" they chorused in unison.

She turned her attention back to the rainbow. She tossed the drachma into the spray and cried, "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please show me the demigods at Camp Half-Blood." The rainbow shimmered, and an image of a very empty Half-Blood Hill came into focus.

Piper looked to the left and right in confusion. "Where…oh." Charging up the sides of the hill were two armies of demigods.

Before she could do anything, both sides stopped in surprise, staring at them. She had to act fast before they got over the shock of a small group of demigods shimmering into existence between them.

"Stop fighting!" she shouted, which sounded dumb once she said it.

Hundreds of eyes focused on her.

Suddenly, Piper's mind went blank. She didn't know what to say. It was too much, all of those eyes staring at her. All she wanted to do was turn off the hose and stop it all. She couldn't do this. No one would listen to her. Angrily, she shoved her doubts to the far corners of her mind. Stop that, she mentally berated herself, you can't break down every time people stare at you! If you show weakness, you've already lost. She thought about Percy and Annabeth, and a fierce resolve filled her. She would _not_ fail them.

"Stop fighting," she repeated. "Listen to me." She took a deep breath to settle her nerves. "For those of you who don't know me, I am Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite, or Venus, if you prefer. We, the demigods of the seven, need your help."

At that moment, a familiar voice shouted through the silence, "It's a trick!" Octavian stepped out from behind the Roman lines, "Don't listen to her! She's charmspeaking you! Those Greeks are trying to distract us from crushing their precious camp! Destroy them!"

Piper protested, "We're not lying."

"Ha! Like we would believe you. Your boy, Leo, fired on New Rome. You asked for this war, girl. Destroy them!" he repeated, his lips set in a confident smirk and his eyes going glinting with what can only be described as a manic light.

A few Romans started towards Piper and her friends.

Piper didn't know if they could harm them through an Iris message, but she didn't really want to find out. But before she could say anything, a voice called, "Stop!"

The Roman legion cleared a path as Reyna walked towards Piper. She regarded her and the others behind her. "Let them speak. Then, I will pass judgement."

Octavian sputtered, "But—"

"Octavian," Reyna snapped, "I am Praetor and I overrank you. Unless something has changed that I wasn't aware of." She made it clear that it wasn't a question.

Octavian's face turned redder than a beet. For a moment, Piper thought he was going to argue, but he just bowed mockingly.

"Yes, _Praetor_," he spat, and stalked back into the Roman ranks until he was hidden from view.

Piper looked gratefully at Reyna, but Reyna's face remained impassive.

"Well?" she said.

"Right," Piper cleared her throat, "As I said, we need your help. All of your help," she swept her gaze over the crowd of demigods, including both camps. "We have reached the Doors of Death—"

She was interrupted by the sound of galloping hooves. She turned and saw Chiron galloping through the Greek ranks towards them.

"Piper!" he cried happily, "Leo, Jason! And Nico! Where have you been for the last few months?" His eyebrows furrowed as he scanned the small group. "Where are Percy and Annabeth?"

She realized that both camps were looking at her for an answer.

"Um," Piper squeaked, "they're not here right now."

"Where are they?" someone called out.

Piper glanced behind her at the demigods onboard the _Argo II_. Their faces were grim. Jason gave her a wordless nod. She turned back to face the others. She took a deep breath. She needed to stay in control. "Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus."

Everyone stared at her, shock and horror written on their faces. Then the questions started.

"What?"

"How did that happen?"

"Are they still alive?"

"We're gonna die!"

"Quiet!" shouted Piper.

Everyone's mouths closed with audible clops.

"First of all, they're still alive. Second of all, we are not going to die," she said firmly. "As I was saying earlier, we have reached the Doors of Death, and have been working on strategies to close them. We have already come to the conclusion that this is impossible… for us by ourselves. The last line of the prophecy: _And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death_; that means the Greeks and the Romans. At first, we thought it just meant us. Now, we realize that we all need to work together. All of us."

Silence.

Then, someone spoke up, "Why should we work with the Romans? They are our enemies!"

Piper glanced in the direction of the speaker. It was Malcolm, one of the children of Athena.

"Because," Piper racked her brain for an answer, "Because…"

Then Jason stepped forward, "Romans and Greeks have no cause to be enemies any longer. Thanks to Annabeth, the Athena Parthenos has been recovered."

Malcolm took a step back in surprise.

The Athena cabin started exclaiming excitedly.

"Really?"

"She actually found it?"

"You've got to be joking. No one has even seen that statue in thousands of years!"

Most of the other campers just stared at Jason with incomprehension. Piper piped up and explained about the grudge match that had been going on between Greeks and Romans since the Romans stole the statue. "So as you can see," she concluded, "there's no reason why we can't get along."

"Proof!" Octavian had surfaced again. "I demand proof that you have the Athena Parthenos!"

Soon, everyone was chanting, "Proof! We want proof!"

Reyna held up her hands for silence. It took a few minutes, but everyone quieted down.

"I suppose that Octavian has a point," said Reyna. "Can you give us proof that you have the Athena Parthenos in your possession?"

Piper tried to think of a way, but drew a blank. "It's in the cargo hold," she explained, "I don't know how we could show it to you—"

"Ha!" Octavian shrieked in triumph, "They don't have it! What did I tell you? This is all a plot to distract us! Destroy them!"

_"STOP!"_ Jason shouted.

Everyone stared at him in surprise. It was unlike Jason to raise his voice.

He turned to the Romans. "I swear, on my life, that we have the Athena Parthenos is in our possession." He directed his gaze to the Greeks. "And I swear on the River Styx, as well." Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Piper looked at him in shock, the words of the prophecy ringing through her head like an echo:_ An oath to keep with a final breath_. Oh, why did he do that?

Chiron looked at Jason nervously. "Those are two binding oaths you have made, Jason Grace."

Jason nodded in confirmation. "I know, sir. I have nothing to fear since I'm not lying."

Reyna studied Jason intently. "I suppose that since you haven't been blasted into dust, you are telling the truth. We Romans hold you to your word. The Athena Parthenos is in your possession."

"We believe you, too," added Malcolm.

Piper decided it was time to get back on subject. "So will you stop fighting and help us?"

The two camps considered the question. Malcolm was the first to speak. "We will help you, with or without the Romans."

The demigods of Camp Half-Blood bobbed their heads in agreement.

Everyone looked at Reyna. Reyna nodded her head slowly. "If this is what the prophecy intended or not, we shall see. We will go as well."

Octavian screeched indignantly, "But they are Greeks! They are our enemies! Don't listen to their lies! Destroy—" he stopped short as Reyna's two dogs, Aurum and Argentum, growling at him with their teeth bared.

Reyna regarded him cooly. "If I didn't know any better, Octavian," she said smoothly, "I would say that you were a Praetor. Are you?"

Octavian did the smart thing, and replied, "No, ma'am," though his expression betrayed his actual thoughts.

"Well I _am_ Praetor. And I'm telling you right now, that you _will_…" She leaned forward so their faces were almost touching. _"SHUT UP!"_

Octavian staggered backwards in surprise, then turned tail and darted through the Romans ranks as if a pack of hellhounds was chasing him.

Piper had never heard Reyna lose her temper like that before, but then, she hadn't known her very long. Apparently, it was a rare occurrence, because the Roman demigods were staring at Reyna in surprise.

Reyna realized they were looking at her, and quickly regained her composure. "We will fight with the Greeks," Reyna continued, "for this once. If the alliance will continue afterwards, will be decided." She turned around and marched through the Roman ranks, the demigods parting before her. "Prepare for departure," she ordered. "We will head for the Doors of Death tomorrow morning."

Chiron repeated the order to the demigods of Camp Half-Blood. "Also," he added, "tonight we shall have a feast honoring the alliance with Camp Jupiter! Everyone is invited!" Both camps cheered and stampeded down either side of the hill to prepare for the journey.

Chiron looked gratefully at Piper and the other demigods. "Thank you. You have stopped another Civil War among the demigods. We all owe you our gratitude." He bowed low, then galloped down Half-Blood Hill to oversee the preparations.

Piper waved her hand through the mist and cut the connection. Behind her, the demigods were cheering. She was dizzy with relief and happiness. The camps were going to get along. They were going to help them.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to find herself staring into Jason's electric blue eyes. He smiled, and that cute scar above his lip almost disappeared.

"Nice job, Pipes," he said. "You got the two camps to get along."

Piper blushed. "I did not," she protested. "You did. You brought up the Athena Parthenos. Speaking of which, why did you swear two big oaths out of the blue like that?"

Jason opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, Leo staggered up behind them, a pouty expression on his face. "Did you hear Chiron? They're going to have a feast! And I'm not invited! Oh, what is this world coming to when a guy's best buddies won't even invite him to a party? Ouch!" This last exclamation was caused by Hazel digging her sharp elbow into his ribs.

"Oh, stop it, you big baby," she scolded, though her eyes twinkled merrily.

Leo rubbed his ribs ruefully. "What was that for?" he whined. "I am not a baby!"

Frank grinned viciously. "Oh, yes, you are."

"Oh, stop it, guys," Piper giggled. Whoa. That was weird. She never giggled. Oh well, she was too happy to care.

"So what do we do now?" asked Leo.

Jason smiled. "How about we have a little party of our own?"

"Yes!" Leo pumped his fist.

"And then," continued Jason, "we wait."

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**So what did you think? Let me know in a review! These are the scenes that started this story in the first place, so they've kinda grown on me over the months since they're my very first attempts at writing fanfiction ever :)**

**Okay, I am SO sorry, but the next chapter isn't complete yet. That's why I've been waiting to publish this chapter. I should be able to have the next one finished by—at the very latest—Friday, so you guys hold me to it!**

**Also, I've started a community called "Book Predictions." It's going to have all decent stories that predict or are rewrites of any of the books in the PJO/HoO series! PM me, or tell me in a review if you know of any awesome book prediction stories to add in there!**

**Check out my other stories and vote on my poll! Thank you so so much to anyone who has all ready!**


	7. ANNABETH VII

**9-27-13**

**Hey guys! I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, but I've had almost ZERO writing time between now and the last chapter. I actually started this one a few days ago, and finished it today. It's shorter and sketchier than I would like, so I'll probably come back and change it later, but hey, at least I'm updating! ;)**

**Thank you Hermione Sparkle, Aleeta6, and Guest for reviewing! Thank you HeadUpHeartStrong for favoriting! You guys made my day!**

**Enjoy!**

**edit: 9-27-13 Oh my gosh. I didn't realize how stupid this was until just now. This has been completely rewritten, and I am now very pleased with the turnout. Now you can read something worthwhile!**

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**ANNABETH**

**Annabeth's eyes fluttered open.** She found herself staring up at a high, beautifully arched ceiling. She could hear familiar sounds echoing all around her; the sounds of a subway station at rush hour. She could hear people talking on their cellphones, trains coming in and out of the station, a homeless person drumming on empty buckets and other implements in an attempt to impress people enough for some spare change. She could smell the incredible scent of hotdogs, coming from a stall somewhere outside the station.

She sat up on the bench she had somehow ended up on. She glanced around her. She was in Grand Central Station.

"What the Hades?" she murmured.

"Language," a familiar voice chided.

Annabeth felt like she had been punched. She knew that voice. She turned in her seat and saw a woman in a red flannel shirt and jeans standing in front of a subway map, studying it carefully. It was almost like she'd never moved.

"Mother," she gasped, hardly daring to hope. An intense feeling of relief overcame her. She must have fallen asleep on this bench after she'd had that horrible conversation with her mother. She had never left. The quest had just been a horrible nightmare. Leo had never fired on New Rome. She and Percy never fell into Tartarus. Even if her mother was still lost between her Greek and Roman forms, Annabeth didn't care. Her quest hadn't really happened.

"Mmm," Athena said, not looking away from the map. "Hello, Annabeth."

Annabeth felt her heart sink, though she knew it had been a ridiculous hope in the first place. "You—you remember me?"

Athena turned toward her, and Annabeth leaned backward slightly in surprise. Athena's eyes no longer looked disconnected and distracted. She looked very much…there. A small smile flickered across her features. "Last I checked, you are my daughter, Annabeth Chase," she said.

Annabeth sank back into the bench, pressing her hands against her temples. "So it really did happen," she murmured. "It's all real."

"I'm afraid so," Athena said gravely.

Annabeth peeked up at her mother through her fingers. Her expression was hard—almost angry. "You know what happened?" she asked tentatively.

Athena inclined her head slightly. "I'm afraid so." She sat down next to Annabeth, her back as straight as if she had a board strapped to it. "I know where you are," she said softly.

Annabeth felt her cheeks flush as her sadness gave way to anger. "And you didn't _do_ anything about it?" she demanded, lowering her hands. "Where have you been all these months? I've prayed and prayed to you, but you haven't answered. And then you gave me this." She whipped the silver coin out of her pocket and shoved it into her mother's face. "This thing, and it completely ruined my life! And when I followed your instructions, followed the mark, I ended up landing in _Tartarus_. The deepest, darkest, evillest part of the Underworld. And you didn't lift a finger to help!" Tears prickled in the backs of her eyes, threatening to fall down her cheeks. She angrily swiped them away. She would _not_ cry. "You weren't there when I _needed_ you," she cried. "Don't you even care?"

Athena's mouth was set in a tight line, and Annabeth wondered if she had taken it too far.

"I do care," Athena said softly. "But the ancient laws make it hard for me to show it."

"If you did care," Annabeth cried, "Percy and I wouldn't be in Tartarus right now."

Athena pursed her lips.

Annabeth was sure she was about to get blasted out of her misery forever.

"Tell me," Athena said simply.

Annabeth started slightly in surprise. "What?"

"What happened," Athena explained. "On your quest. Start from the beginning, when you launched the _Argo II_."

So Annabeth told her. She told her about hovering over New Rome, her conversation with Reyna, and how Leo was possessed by an eidolon that made him fire on the city. She explained how they were chased across America, including landing in the Great Salt Lake, meeting Bacchus in Kansas, and Kate and Porky at the Georgia Aquarium. She described their meeting with Aphrodite, and Percy and Jason working together to create a freak storm to drive back the Romans who had caught up with them while she searched for the map at Fort Sumter. She went on to tell her about sailing across the Atlantic, battling Shrimpzilla which resulted in three of their friends meeting the ichthyocentaurs, and running into Hercules at the entrance of the Mediterranean. She continued with the pirate attack of Chrysaor and his half dolphin minions, and how Percy scared them all away with Diet Coke. She went on to tell her how they arrived in New Rome, how she had wandered the streets with Percy, and how she kick started her solo quest by riding a baby blue motorcycle with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck.

Athena was a good listener. She never looked away from Annabeth as she spoke, her grey eyes calculating as she took in every word, filing it away for future reference. Annabeth felt like Athena was looking into her very soul, picking out her thoughts and feelings and examining them with a critical gaze. She wondered if that's how people felt when she stared at them.

She shuddered as she told Athena about her quest: destroying the cavern of Mithras, falling and breaking her ankle, getting chased by spiders, weaving her way across the chasm. Her voice quivered noticeably as she described Arachne and how she had tricked her into weaving her own prison. She described the _Argo II_ blasting through the ceiling, her friends securing the Athena Parthenos as the cavern crumbled. Finally, she finished by telling her how Arachne had somehow attached a web around her foot, and she had been dragged into Tartarus with Percy.

When Annabeth finished, she studied Athena closely, trying to discern what she was thinking. But Athena's face was as expressionless as the statue built in her likeness. The only thing that distinguished her from stone was her flashing grey eyes.

Without warning, Athena pounded her fist onto the seat of the bench, her eyes blazing with pure anger and hatred. "That witch," she hissed. "That monster." She began cursing Arachne in Ancient Greek, and even Annabeth was slightly shocked at the her mother's word choice. Finally, Athena took a shaky breath. She flicked a stray piece of lint off her worn jeans.

"What was that about language?" Annabeth asked innocently.

Athena raised an eyebrow at her. "Forgive me," she said, once more composed.

Annabeth shook her head in amazement, her face splitting into a wide grin. "Nah, you're good," she said. "In fact, go on. I don't mind."

Athena looked up and their eyes met, grey on grey. Her eyes softened, and she smiled back. "I think I'm done ranting. Sorry."

Annabeth pretended to look annoyed. "Aw, come on. I was learning some pretty good curses."

They stared at each other. Annabeth didn't know who cracked first; all she knew was that they were both suddenly laughing like crazy, tears running down their cheeks as they guffawed.

Annabeth rocked back and forth, unable to stop the hysterical sounds coming from her mouth. Gods, she must be going crazy. She had no good reason to laugh. Her body was in hell for Zeus's sake. But at the same time, it felt good. She felt all the tension temporarily leaving her chest, coming out in slightly manic sounding laughter.

She laughed until her sides hurt, and then some. Finally, she found herself leaning on her equally breathless mother, each of them supporting the other as they struggled to recover their breath.

Athena leaned away from her, wiping tears from her eyes. "Don't you dare tell anyone what I just did," she said, trying to sound stern, but her eyes still twinkled with barely suppressed merriment. "They would tease me for centuries."

Annabeth smiled. "Mum's the word," she assured her.

A train horn echoed through the tunnel. Athena cocked her head to the side and her expression turned serious. "Annabeth. I must go soon. That is my train. But first." She leaned forward and gripped Annabeth's shoulders. "I want you to know that I am proud of you. You did what your siblings have failed to do over thousands of years. You are the first child of Athena to see the Athena Parthenos in millennia. You helped me find the way home." She took a deep breath. "I know you will survive, Annabeth. You will make it to the Doors. You will prevail." She gave her a small smile. "Especially with Percy by your side. Together, you two are unstoppable. Don't tell Poseidon I said that."

Annabeth allowed a fleeting smile to cross her features. "I won't," she promised.

Athena swallowed, like she couldn't believe what she was about to say. "You chose well, Annabeth," she announced. "I couldn't imagine having a better son-in-law."

Annabeth felt her cheeks flame. "Mother!" she exclaimed.

Athena raised an amused eyebrow at her. "You are getting married, yes?"

An egg probably could've fried on Annabeth's cheeks—they were that hot. "Not right now," she protested. "We might not even survive that long."

"Oh, you will," Athena said firmly. "I know you will."

The horn sounded again, and a train rattled into the station, slowing to a stop twenty feet in front of them.

Athena stood up, a faraway look in her eyes as she gazed at the opening doors of the car. "Home," she murmured, savoring the word. "Yes. It is time to go home." She turned back to Annabeth, her eyes as steely as ball bearings. "I will see you soon, Annabeth," she said. "I look forward to fighting by your side."

Annabeth looked up, startled. "But—Zeus closed Olympus."

Athena snorted. "It won't be closed for much longer. I'm going to go knock some sense into that father of mine." She sighed. "Sometimes, I think I stole all of his brain cells when I sprang out of his half-baked brain."

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Athena rolled her eyes. "It's true!" she yelled. She turned to board the train, but seemed to remember something. She looked back at Annabeth once more. "And Annabeth…thank you."

She left a stunned Annabeth sitting on the bench as she marched with her head held high through the doors of the subway car. It was all Annabeth could do not to bolt after her, to beg her to take her with her. But she couldn't leave Percy behind. Besides, she doubted her mother would agree.

Annabeth watched as Athena gripped one of the ceiling handles in the overflowing car. Their eyes met one last time, and Athena nodded gracefully. The doors to the car closed, and the train jerked forward. Annabeth watched the train until it disappeared through the tunnel, the last sight of her mother standing regally in the car burned into her mind.

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**So what do you think? I know it's not my best, and probably OOC, but review anyway?**

**Okay, so just a heads up: the next chapter is not yet written, and will be very short. But after are two of my longest and favorite chapters in Percy's POV! And after that...I don't know. I'll have to look and make sure they're complete :P**

**Check out my other stories and vote on my poll! Thank you so much to anyone who has all ready! Avengers fans, check out my fic "Random Conversations with our Favorite Characters!" I just updated that one today too :)**

**Don't forget to PM me any good book predictions or rewrites so I can add them to my community!**

**Expect the next chapter within a couple of days!**

**Eleven more days till "House of Hades"! (Cue excited sqealing)**


	8. ANNABETH VIII

**9-28-13**

**Hey, look! Two updates for two unwritten chapters on two consecutive days! Hehe.**

**IMPORTANT: Okay, so I completely rewrote the last chapter, guys. Most of you got to read the revised version, but a few of you read the one I am kinda ashamed to call my own. So you might want to hit the back button real quick and read the first couple of sentences to make sure you read the latest one.**

**Enjoy!**

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**ANNABETH**

**Annabeth woke up with a start.** For a moment, she couldn't remember where she was. She tries to get up, but banged her head on something really hard. She winced and cursed quietly. She realized she was wedged between some black rocks. What? Then it all came rushing back: getting ambushed by the hellhounds, getting hit on the head, and seeing her mom at Grand Central Station. Right.

Percy. Where was Percy?

She wiggled free of her cramped prison, and tripped over something as she staggered away from the small crevice. Usually, she would have been able to recover her balance. But her ankle still wasn't fully healed, so she ended up spilling onto the rocky ground. She landed on something warm and soft. And wet. The thing moaned and Annabeth quickly rolled off.

She turned to look back at what she had tripped over, and her heart all but stopped. It was Percy. His face was pale, his breath coming in ragged gasps as sweat poured off his forehead. His face was twisted in agony.

"Oh my gods," she cried, crawling over to him.

The cut on his leg had almost stopped bleeding, but that wasn't what freaked her out. His back looked like someone had clawed it with a rake. A very sharp, very evil rake. Blood was gushing freely from the wound, and Annabeth dimly realized that her shirt was now covered in the liquid. But she didn't care. At the moment, all she wanted to do was _make it stop_.

She spied her bag hanging limply from Percy's hand, and snatched it up. An empty plastic bag fluttered from the opening, and her heart sank as she recognized it as the one that had held their ambrosia. She searched frantically for the nectar canteen, and saw it lying close to the cave she had just come out of. She practically pounced on it, unscrewing the lid and turned it upside down over Percy's back. One drop dripped off the rim and onto his mauled flesh. Oh gods, no. She shook it desperately, praying fervishly that there was more than that. But nothing more came out. That was it.

Desperately, she tore a dry piece of her shirt off and dabbed at the wound. All that did was make Percy wince even more.

She sank to her knees next to her probably dying boyfriend, feeling like someone had just pulled the rug that was her life out from under her feet. This could _not_ be happening. She had to still be asleep. She pinched her arm as hard as she could. All she accomplished was making her arm hurt.

Tears welled up in her eyes and flowed down her face before she could blink them back. She didn't care. Percy was dying. A sob escaped her mouth, and she just broke down. She could hardly see from all the tears and her entire body shook with unrepressed sobs.

Oh gods, what had she done? She'd let her guard down and had been knocked out of action. Now Percy was paying the price for her inattention. The thought just made her sob harder. It was all _her_ fault.

Percy's face went slack, and Annabeth completely panicked. No. He couldn't die. She wouldn't let him. She grabbed his wrist, pressing her fingers onto his wrist. His pulse beat weakly against her fingers.

Annabeth snatched up the pack and dug through it, looking for anything that could help. Her fingers closed around a round plastic bottle. She ripped the water bottle out of the pack, shaking it in the dim light of the nearby lava. It was still three-quarters of the way full. Would that be enough?

Her heart pounding, she unscrewed the lid. She ripped away the tattered remains of his shirt that surrounded the wound, and used them to scrub away the excess blood to reveal the source. Just before the blood gushed around the wounds again, she caught a glimpse of the deep, angry cuts on Percy's back. A hellhound had probably caught him with its paw.

She took a deep breath, and held the water bottle over him. She quickly swiped away as much blood as she could with her fistful of all ready soaked material, and poured water over the first cut. The blood flow immediately slowed down, though Annabeth didn't see any noticeable change on the surface of the wound—probably because it was so deep. She repeated the process, wiping the blood, and trickling water over the wounds. By the time she'd used most of the water, the wounds were only jagged red scratches with ugly purplish bruises tinging the edges.

Percy moaned and stirred slightly, wincing as he was drawn back to consciousness.

Annabeth began to cry in relief. She didn't care if Percy woke up and saw her. At this point, she was just happy they were alive.

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**So what did you think? I know, shortest chapter yet, but review anyway?**

**IMPORTANT: Since this chapter was so short, I've got a little deal to make with you guys. If I get at least three reviews by the end of the day, I will publish the next chapter. Sound good? ;)**

**Also, I'm considering rewriting chapter two. What do you guys think?**

**Ten more days till the real "House of Hades"! Is anyone getting the book the first day it's out? I'm not :(**


	9. PERCY IX

**9-28-13**

**Hey guys! I'm back for the second time today! :D I got two reviews (thank you Aleeta6 and Guest) and two followers (thank you Phoenicis Hida and va1464) so I thought, close enough!**

**Enjoy!**

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**PERCY**

**Percy didn't know that it was possible to dream while your unconscious.** But then, he didn't know how it was possible that he had lived this long to have this dream in the first place.

He was standing in a clearing. Three skeletal bushes shaped like thrones were placed at one end. He realized he was standing where the Council of Cloven Elders used to meet.

Only one person was in the clearing, and he was standing about two feet to Percy's right, his back to him. The person was wearing an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, a set of reed pipes on a belt around his waist, and had horns sticking out over his curly brown hair.

"Grover?" Percy asked.

Grover turned, his expression panicked. "Perrrrrrrcy!" he bleated. "I've been trying to reach you for days! Where are you? Why couldn't I contact you until now?"

"Whoa, hold on G-man," Percy said. "I lost my memory, remember?"

Grover nodded, but he still looked nervous. "You remember me now, right? You haven't forgotten us?"

Percy managed a smile. "Nope. I remember everything now. Even that dam problem we had a few years back."

It was a weak joke, but Grover grinned, looking relieved. His expression quickly changed to concern. "But that doesn't explain why it's been so hard to contact you," he protested. "If you remember me, and Hera isn't blocking me out, how come it took so much magic to actually get through to you?" His eyes widened. "Percy, where are you? I can sense your agony. What happened?"

"Uh," Percy said. "Annabeth and I…well…we kinda…fellintoTartarus."

Grover's eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

Percy took a deep breath. "Annabeth and I are in Tartarus."

Grover took a step backward. He laughed nervously. "Ha ha. Real funny, Percy. And I'm on Mount Tam. Where are you really?"

Percy continued to stare at him.

Grover's face turned pale and he fell down onto his furry rear. "Oh my gods. You…you're not joking. Holy Pan, I need to tell Chiron! We've gotta—"

"Grover!" Percy interrupted. "It's okay! It actually works out since we have to close the Doors from both sides anyway."

Grover looked confused. "What?"

Percy explained about the Doors of Death, how one side was in the mortal world, Epirus, and one side was in the Underworld, Tartarus. He told him how they had to be closed from both sides.

Grover didn't seem to take any comfort in the information. "But _Tartarus_? No hero has survived that since Houdini!"

"Nico did," Percy said quietly.

Grover's eyes widened. "Nico was in Tartarus? And he's alive?"

Percy nodded.

Grover seemed to look slightly relieved. "So maybe it's not that impossible. How'd he get out?"

"Um," Percy said hesitantly. "Gaea pulled him out to use as bait for us."

Grover's pupils dilated. He bleated in panic. "_Blaaa-haaa-haaa!_ You're doomed!"

"Grover!" Percy yelled. "I need you to calm down! We're okay! Also, I don't think you should tell anybody just yet."

"Why not?" he demanded.

"We don't want to cause a mass panic," Percy explained patiently. "If everyone reacts like you did, nobody would be in any shape to fight a war."

Grover still looked unsure. "We're fighting a war right now. The Romans were preparing to charge when I came down here to try and contact you one last time. Should I tell Chiron where you are?"

Percy considered this. "No," he decided. "When he has bad news, it definitely shows in his attitude. The campers will figure out something's wrong. Best keep it a secret for now."

Grover nodded. "I suppose."

Someone shouted off in the distance: "Grover! Grover, the seven Iris Messaged us! Well, most of them."

Grover looked startled. "What?"

The image began to fade as Grover grew distracted.

"Grover!" Percy called.

Grover turned back. "What?"

"We're gonna be fine! Don't panic! We'll—"

The vision dissolved completely.

For a split second, it was dark. Then a new scene began to form in front of him.

This time, he found himself standing in some sort of meeting room. A big table with a map on it stood in the center, covered with little lead figurines, like a battle map. With a shudder, he realized it was a map of Camp Half-Blood.

He heard footsteps coming toward the door, someone protesting loudly.

The door swung open, and in stalked the familiar figure of Reyna, followed closely by an angry looking Octavian.

"It's not wise!" Octavian was saying. "The Greeks are known for their deceit. How are we supposed to know we can trust them now?"

Reyna ignored him, striding to the table holding the map. She studied it briefly. "I trust Jason," she said simply.

Octavian's face turned purple with rage. "How can you still trust that traitor? He betrayed us!"

That was the wrong thing to say.

Reyna whirled on him, her hand on the dagger strapped to her belt. "He did not betray us," she said, enunciating each word. "That boy, Leo, did. Annabeth was as shocked as I was when she saw the ship firing."

"She's just a good actress!" Octavian protested. "And that…that _Percy Jackson_," he spat, "was in on the whole plan! He pretended to have amnesia so he could infiltrate our camp!"

Reyna studied him. "I don't think that that's the case. Percy swore on his life that Jason would back up everything he said. I doubt he would have done so if he really was intending to betray us."

Octavian pointed an accusatory finger at Reyna. "Aha! He swore that Jason would back up everything he said! And of course Jason would, because he's a traitor too!"

Reyna's expression hardened. "I have made my decision, Octavian. My word is law. Until the Greeks give us good reason, we will fight with them against the bigger threat. I will not back down on my word."

"But we have to cross the Mare Nostrum!" Octavian spluttered. "It's been off limits to Roman demigods for centuries! It's madness to go there!"

Reyna picked up a little soldier figurine and turned it in her fingers. "I will do what I have to to protect the camp. Even if it means breaking ancient laws in order to do so."

"But—"

Reyna's eyes grew cold. She whirled around and glared at Octavian, who wisely shut his mouth. "My word is law," she repeated with finality. "We are going to Rome. We are fighting with the Greeks, not against them. That is final." She pointed one straight finger at the door. "Leave me," she ordered.

Octavian looked ready to explode, but he just bowed. "Yes, your majesty," he mocked. He stalked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

All of the energy seemed to drain from Reyna. She slumped against the table, her expression tired, and something that was so foreign on her face that it took Percy a while to recognize it: fear. Reyna was afraid.

"This will work," she whispered, fingering a lead Greek chariot. She straightened, her expression once again hardening into the stern look always present during Senate meetings. "It _will_ work," she said with finality. She reached out and yanked the map off the table, scattering figurines onto the floor. She crumpled the map and threw it in the corner.

When she looked away, she seemed to be gazing right at Percy, so he almost thought she could see him.

"It will work," she said again, her eyes boring into him. "I will _make_ it work."

The image faded, leaving Percy more puzzled than ever. The Romans were working with the Greeks? Since when?

Before he could ponder it further, the image changed again.

He found himself in a some kind of underground chamber. At least, he assumed it was underground. The walls were made out of rich, dark earth, lined with tree roots. A faint glow spread across the room, though Percy couldn't tell where it came from. The strangest thing? The whole room simply hummed with energy, the walls throbbing in a steady beat. Almost like a heartbeat.

"Hello, Perseus."

A shiver went down his spine as Percy recognized the all too familiar voice of Gaea. His hand went instinctively to his pocket, ready to draw Riptide.

Gaea chuckled, the chilling sound coming from all sides. "None of that now, my little pawn. You should know by now that you fight for a lost cause."

"We'll defeat you," Percy said firmly. "You're doomed, so you might as well quit now."  
"Oh, Perseus," Gaea sighed. "Don't you see? Your friends don't care about you. They never have."

Percy snorted. "Yeah, like that's going to work. It's obvious you're lying."

"But I'm not, my dear little pawn," Gaea said, almost sounding regretful. "You want to see your friends? Here's what they're doing right now."

A wall of earth rose up in front of Percy, forming a sort of screen. Different colored dirt began moving along the surface, forming figures on the dark background. At first, Percy couldn't tell what they were, but as the stuff shifted and bunched together, he saw his friends.

He involuntarily gasped. The likenesses were perfect, the earth moving like he was watching a soundless, old-fashioned film. Even though the colors ranged from bleach white, to a dark earthy brown, it was very clear what the image was.

Piper, Jason, Leo, Frank, Hazel, and Nico were sitting at the cafeteria table, holding goblets in their hands. As Percy watched, Jason stood up, his glass raised high. His lips moved as he said something, probably a toast, and the others clinked their glasses to his and took a drink. Leo said something, and they all burst into gales of laughter; even Nico cracked a smile. Hazel was laughing so hard, she all but fell out of her chair.

"You see, Perseus?" Gaea said. "They are glad you are gone. They wanted to get rid of you from the very beginning. You falling into Tartarus was just a pleasant convenience to them."

Percy felt like someone had dropped him in a pit of muskeg, because suddenly he couldn't breathe. "You're—" He struggled to speak around the lump in his throat. "You're lying. This isn't real." But even as he said it, he knew that wasn't true. This was real. And it was happening right now. He knew Gaea was just trying to get under his skin, but it didn't change the fact that she was doing a decent job of it.

"I don't mind if they have a little fun," he said, trying to sound indifferent.

Gaea sighed, sounding almost sympathetic. "Oh, I know what you're thinking, Perseus. You cannot fool me. You could have avoided Tartarus completely, you know. Both you and Annabeth. It's a shame you didn't surrender when you got the chance. You chose to come to me the hard way. All your pain, all your suffering, will be for naught. You will still die in the end, but you will die without your sanity. It's been thousands of years since my husband has had a demigod of your caliber in his realm. I will enjoy watching him break you."

"I-I'm not afraid of you," Percy said. He tried to sound brave, but his voice cracked. "Or your husband. Hit me with your best shot."

"Oh, he will, little pawn. He will."

The ground crumbled beneath Percy and he fell into darkness, cold, dark laughter that could only belong to the spirit of Tartarus echoing in his ears as he fell.

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**BWAHAHAHAHA! Cliffie! Sort of...**

**So what do you think? Let me know in a review!**

**Okay, so the next two chapters are written, but I need to write one more chapter to connect it to the next set of completed scenes. Did that make any sense? Didn't think so.**

**Check out my other stories and vote on my poll! Thank you SO MUCH to anyone who has all ready!**


	10. PERCY X

**10-1-13**

**Oh my gosh, guys, I am SO SORRY! I was planning on having this chapter out a couple days ago, but then there were some things I wanted to edit, and then I had zero access to this all day. I hope you'll forgive me! I feel this is slightly bland and repetitive, but I couldn't stand to make you guys wait any longer.**

**Thank you Aleeta6 for reviewing! Thank you Hermione Sparkle and Jamieandtj for favoriting! You guys made my stressful day so much better! **

**Enjoy!**

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**PERCY**

**Percy woke up to the sound of Annabeth's sobs.** He struggled to open his eyes, but they seemed to be stuck shut. He lifted his arm to try and wipe his eyes, but as soon as he tried to move, his back practically screamed in protest. He groaned in pain, deciding it would probably be best if he stayed still for the moment. He gasped quietly as something wet splashed onto his back, lulling the pain to a dull throb. A voice cut through his misery, one that had come to mean so much to him in the past year.

"Percy?"

Percy moaned again, and tried to turn toward the voice, but stopped as waves of pain rolled up his back.

"No, don't move. You were slashed by a hellhound, Percy. I thought…I thought you wouldn't make it."

Percy slowly opened his eyes and found himself lying on the ground, gazing into the surrounding darkness. He carefully turned his head—grimacing as he moved the muscles in his back—and faced Annabeth. Her grimy face had tears racing down it, cutting through the dirt like little rivers. He tried for a smile, but it quickly turned into a wince.

"Careful," Annabeth cautioned. "You shouldn't move too much yet. Here." She reached over and poured water from a bottle onto his back.

Percy sighed with relief as the pain eased. "Thanks, Wise Girl," he murmured.

She leaned down until their faces were a couple of inches apart, a small smile on her lips. "You're welcome," she whispered, her hot breath tickling his skin. She closed the last couple of inches and they kissed softly.

"Gods, I've missed that," Percy gasped as they pulled away.

Annabeth's smile widened in amusement. "What, me kissing you? I kiss you all the time, Seaweed Brain."

"No, you don't," Percy countered. "Otherwise you'd be kissing me right now."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Sorry, not until you're able to stand." Her eyes twinkled. "I don't enjoy stooping to your level," she teased lightly.

Percy pouted slightly, but flinched again as he moved.

Annabeth's face became quickly concerned. "Hey, you okay?"

Percy nodded and blanched as the movement jerked his back. "Yeah, fine," he managed, his voice strained.

Annabeth frowned. "No, you're not," she countered. She poured a little more water onto Percy's back.

He experimentally twitched his legs. His back still ached, but it wasn't nearly as bad. He pushed himself up on his hands and knees, ignoring his protesting body as he pulled himself to his feet. He gasped slightly as the throbbing in his back increased, sending waves of agony shooting up spine. He almost fell over again, but Annabeth grabbed his arms and somehow managed to keep him upright.

"Careful, Seaweed Brain," she admonished, her eyebrows creased with worry.

"I'm fine," he insisted.

"Okay," she said, looking doubtful. She let go of his arm and Percy swayed slightly on his feet, but miraculously managed to keep his balance.

He gritted his teeth and took a small step forward. His knees buckled immediately and he collapsed to the ground.

"Percy!" Annabeth cried. She knelt down next to him and lifted his chin so he was looking up at her, sweat dripping down his face. "Maybe we should rest here for awhile," Annabeth suggested.

Percy nodded numbly and leaned back onto the wall. He jerked forward as the cold rocks touched the wounds on his back. He settled for stretching flat on the ground on his stomach again. He sighed. He was already feeling useless. He could barely stand up. He shuddered at the thought of a monster attacking them at this point. He would end up a pile of Percy chow.

Annabeth sat down next to him, her forehead creased with concern.

"You're cute when you're worried," Percy said. "Your eyebrows get all scrunched together."

Annabeth smiled faintly as he quoted her words from what seemed like years ago, but had really only been last summer. In that case, their roles had been reversed: Annabeth lay on the bed, and Percy was by her side after she had been stabbed by Ethan Nakamura on the Williamsburg Bridge.

He sighed softly. It seemed he would never get a break. First the Titan War, now a Giant War, all within the span of two years. It seems even after all the monsters he'd defeated, all the quests he'd successfully completed, and all the battles he'd won didn't gain him any points with the Fates. He still landed in Tartarus. He wondered what would happen if he died down here. Would his soul be able to escape? His thoughts were interrupted as Annabeth cried out.

"Oh my gods, what is that?" she exclaimed.

Percy looked over to where Annabeth was pointing and his heart skipped a beat.

Oozing toward them was some sort of white mist. It swirled around as tendrils of the glowing white stuff seeped toward them, smoky white fingers reaching out as if to grab them. The lead one lunged at Percy and curled over him like a cold, wet blanket.

He yelped in surprise as figures formed in the mist. He squinted, trying to distinguish them. He gasped in horror and his heart stopped at what he saw. It was his mother. She was dangling from the air, held up by a big, beefy arm that could only belong to the Minotaur.

"Go!" she choked.

The Minotaur squeezed harder and she disappeared in a puff of air that washed over Percy's face.

"No!" Percy yelled. He somehow managed to stagger to his feet. He drew his sword and charged at the monster, but when he reached it it dissolved into mist. He stood there panting, scanning the wall of white for any sign of his mom or the monster. "Mom!" he yelled. He felt a hand on his arm and whirled around to find that Annabeth had followed him.

"Percy," she said gently, "that wasn't your mom. That was just an…" She trailed off and gasped as she looked over Percy's shoulder and deeper into the mist.

Percy turned and saw Luke, struggling under the weight of the sky. "Annabeth," he choked. "Please. Help. I can't hold it."

Tears ran down Annabeth's cheeks and she ran over to the misty form of Luke, holding out her hand tentatively to try and touch his face. Her hand passed right through and Luke gasped quietly. Annabeth tried to pick up the misty sky that was crushing him, but her hands met nothing.

Luke looked up, a look of betrayal on his face. "You didn't help me," he whispered before he collapsed under the weight and the whole image dissolved.

Percy heard a scream behind him and whirled around to see Hazel knocked to the side by the spear butt of the giant Alcyoneus. She crashed into a misty snow bank and lay their helpless as the giant raised his spear for the final blow.

"No!" Percy screamed, and he ran to her aid. He sliced at the spear shaft with Riptide, but it only passed through. The giant smiled down at Hazel, his golden eyes glistening with malice as he ran Hazel through. "No!" Percy cried again, falling to his knees. He leaned over to Hazel's still form, but she just disappeared.

A few feet off to Percy's right, another image formed in the mist. Frank was wriggling in agony on the ground as his stick burned in his hand. Percy ran to help him, reaching out to snuff out the fire, but he was too late. The stick burned to ashes and Frank gave one last convulsive shudder before he lay motionless on the ground.

Another scream behind him. Thalia was single-handedly fighting off a pack of werewolves, hacking at anything within reach of her silvery daggers. Percy knew she wouldn't last long. Close-quarter fighting wasn't her thing. He ran to help, slicing at the monsters, but nothing happened. His blade passed through them every time. He watched in horror as one jumped on Thalia, and she fell to the ground and was soon out of sight in the mass of fur.

"No!" Percy sobbed, starting to panic. His friends and family were dying all around him and he was helpless to save them.

Piper appeared in front of him, desperately fighting off an Earthborn. Her turquoise dress was in tatters and her hair was a rat's nest. More Earthborn appeared all around her, trapping her. They began to throw chunks of earth that hardened into jagged stones, beating her to death. Percy ran to help, but as he watched, Piper collapsed to the ground and was soon buried in a huge pile of rocks.

Attacks were coming from everywhere, Percy running back and forth trying to save his friends to no avail.

Leo stood in front of a huge Cyclops lady in a chainmail muumuu with greasy pigtails. He pointed his finger in the air and shot a blast of fire at some invisible thing up in the ceiling. A few seconds passed and an engine fell from above. Unfortunately, the Cyclops lady saw it and stepped off to the side as the thing smashed to pieces beside her as she grabbed Leo around the neck with her meaty fist and started to squeeze. Leo kicked and punched, trying to get free, but his feeble efforts soon stopped as his eyes glazed over and he went limp in the Cyclops hand.

Jason was fighting a giant with horrible dreadlocks, making cuts into his scaly reptilian legs with a golden spear that Percy had never seen before. Suddenly, the spear broke and Jason was thrown backwards by the blast, ending up flat on his back on the ground. The giant towered over him, his spear raised high, and plunged it into Jason's body.

Grover was in Polyphemus's cave, slowly roasting on a spit over a large bonfire. Percy tried his best not to watch that one.

Percy covered his ears, trying to block out the agonized cries of his friends. It didn't work. He could still see what was going on.

Tyson appeared in a small cell, Kampê standing over him, a bear's head roaring from her unformed middle, the snakes on her dragon body and hair hissing. Kampê raised her swords, glistening with poison, and stabbed them into Tyson.

Annabeth, standing on the Williamsburg Bridge fighting desperately against an army of monsters. Ethan Nakamura crept up behind her, raising a poisoned dagger over his head.

Percy tried to shout, to warn her, but his voice stuck in his throat. He watched in horror as Ethan plunged the dagger into Annabeth's back. She collapsed onto the asphalt, her lifeless eyes staring up at him accusingly.

Annabeth. Percy shook his head, trying to shake away the images. His friends weren't dying. These were illusions. He had to find Annabeth before she succumbed to the horrible scenes. He heard a familiar cry off to his right.

He turned in that direction and ran, pushing away at the misty images in front of him, not paying any attention to what they were. All that mattered was Annabeth. He had to find her. He saw her off in the distance, hacking at a hellhound, and ran for her. He sliced at the hellhound and reached out for Annabeth, only for both of them to dissolve into mist.

Another scream off to his left. And another. And another. He collapsed to his knees, overwhelmed by the shouts coming at him from all directions. All of his friends, yelling his name, begging him to help them, and he was powerless to do so. He pushed passed the feeling of panic and got back on his feet. He couldn't be deceived. These weren't real. Where was Annabeth?

"Percy!" a girl screamed in terror. Annabeth.

"Annabeth!" Percy cried back.

"Percy!" she screamed again.

Percy barreled towards the noise, trying to keep a feeling of doubt from his mind. What if it was another illusion? What if she wasn't real? He shook his head angrily. No. This time it was her. He could feel it. Suddenly, he saw her.

She was standing in the middle of a ring of misty spiders. The sea of creepy crawlies were taunting her, scuttling over her feet and ankles, slowly working their way up her body as Annabeth screeched and hacked uselessly at them with her dagger. Her face was almost as white as the mist, and she looked like she would faint any second.

"Annabeth!" Percy called to her, wading through the misty arachnids.

She whirled around, eyes wild and dagger raised. When she saw him, a single tear wound its way down her cheek. "P-Percy?" she stammered.

"Yes," Percy said. "Come on, let's get out of here." He wrapped an arm around Annabeth's waist and started dragging her through the mist.

She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and limped along, trying to keep the weight off her bad ankle.

They charged recklessly across the ground, not knowing or caring which way they were going as long as it was away from the images and screams that currently surrounded them.

Their breath came in ragged gasps. Percy saw that Annabeth's face was filled with panic. He probably had the same expression. Percy tried not to listen to the horrible cries and refused to look at any of the images that appeared. But if he turned away from one, another appeared where he had turned.

Time became meaningless as they staggered through the silky white tendrils, trying to escape the horrible sights and sounds.

Percy found himself hyperventilating. It was all he could do not to rush to the aid of his friends, even if he knew they weren't real.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

He dropped to the ground and curled into a ball, plugging his ears and squeezing his eyes shut. He heard a small thump next to him and felt a warm body curl up next to him, and he knew that Annabeth had followed his example. He reached out and pulled her close to him, feeling comfort in the familiar warmth of her body.

Annabeth turned so that she was facing him and they gripped each other for dear life, trying to shut out the horrible tortures around them.

Percy felt something splash onto his shoulder, and opened his eyes to see silent tears running down Annabeth's cheeks. He pulled her even closer, and she buried her face in his chest, her tears soaking the tattered remains of his shirt. He hid his face in her hair as the white mist swirled around them, whispering in their ears, prying their eyelids open, trying to drive them insane.

~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~

Percy didn't know how long they lay there. It seemed like an eternity before the screaming finally faded.

He slowly opened his eyes. He found himself looking into the tear-stained face of his girlfriend.

"Annabeth?" he whispered.

She opened her red-rimmed grey eyes.

"I think it's gone."

She nodded slowly.

They carefully pulled apart and sat upright, both breathing hard.

Percy pressed his hands to his forehead and took a shaky breath. "I suppose that whole thing was my fault," he said.

Annabeth looked at him in surprise. "How was that your fault, Percy?"

"I told Gaea to hit me with her best shot." He told her his dream about the earthen chamber.

"Oh," Annabeth said in a small voice. There was a short silence, then Annabeth scooted over so their thighs were touching.

Percy looked up to find her looking at him with tears in her eyes. He half expected her to slap him for being so stupid by provoking the enemy, but instead, she kissed him.

"That wasn't your fault, Percy," she whispered. "You didn't know."

He sighed in relief. "I thought you'd be mad at me."

She gave a short bark of laughter. "Oh, Seaweed Brain. Why would I do that? You have a bad habit of ticking off supreme beings, so I shouldn't be surprised. Besides, she probably would have done that with or without your little statement."

Percy considered this. "Yeah, I suppose you're right," he conceded. "Oh yeah, it also seems that Reyna has decided to work with the Greeks. I don't know how that happened, but I saw Octavian arguing with her about it."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "I wonder why," she said.

"Oh, and Grover just about had a panic attack when I told him where we were."

She smiled slightly. "Empathy link back on track?"

Percy nodded. "Toward the end of our conversation, someone was calling to him and saying something about the seven Iris Messaging them. Do you think they told the camps what happened?"

Annabeth's eyebrows quirked upwards. "I wouldn't be surprised."

They sat in silence, each one struggling to control their racing hearts.

Finally, Percy sighed wearily. They probably should get moving.

With a groan, he hauled himself to his feet. He swayed slightly, but managed to stay upright. He held out a hand to Annabeth. "Ms. Chase," he said formally.

Annabeth smiled. She took his hand, and he pulled her to her feet. "Mr. Jackson," she said.

He held out his elbow, and she hooked her arm through his.

"Would you care to take a short stroll with me, Ms. Chase," Percy said.

"I don't know about short," Annabeth snorted, "but yes, Mr. Jackson, that would be lovely."

Percy tried to hold back his smile without much success. Maybe he _was_ going crazy.

Together, they stumbled forward through the oppressive darkness.

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**Poor Percy and Annabeth...**

**So what do you think? Let me know in a review! Do you think we could reach twenty within the next two chapters? Please?**

**By the way, this is kinda my theory on what that misty stuff is on the cover of the real "House of Hades."**

**The next chapter is all ready written, but I'm not sure what the chapter after that is going to be yet. I'll try to update as soon as possible!**

**Check out my other stories, vote on my poll, and take a look at my community "One-Shot WONDERS!" Thanks to everyone who all ready has!**

**Seven more days till "House of Hades"!**


	11. LEO XI

**10-3-13**

**Oh my gosh, guys, I'm so sorry! I've been so busy, and I haven't had a chance to write anything new for this story. I was hoping to have the next chapter of this written before I published this, but I couldn't leave you guys! Also, I am teetering on the edge of being grounded. I am technically not supposed to have my iPad mini on me right now, but I somehow do. So just in case it does get taken away, I decided to give you guys another chapter! Yay! :D**

**Thank you Aleeta6 (my constant fan), puzzlingnerd57, and Hibye for reviewing! Thank you VestalVirginsOfRome for favoriting! You guys make my rainy days sunny :)**

**Enjoy!**

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**LEO**

**Leo hated waiting**. They had found a quiet hill about thirty miles from the enemy camp, and were currently parked there, waiting for the Greeks and Romans to arrive. It was just so _boring_.

It had been two days since the Iris message, and it had taken that long to repair a few things on the ship. Luckily, he had another, more interesting project to keep him occupied now that repairs were complete: the Archimedes sphere.

Leo had wanted to install it the moment he had brought it onboard in Rome, but then they had to save their friends and the Athena Parthenos. Then they had sailed to Ancient Greece. Now, he could finally examine Archimedes's creation. He hoped he could get it to work since it was, at the very least, severely damaged from when he had used it in the underground cave.

He tried to extinguish the extreme feeling of guilt inside of him as he looked at it. The price had been too much. Was it really worth it?

He shook his head angrily. He would use it to _fix_ his mistake. He would get Percy and Annabeth out of that…place.

He picked it up from the pedestal by the controls. He opened it up, and winced at the sight. All of the mechanics were a mess. But nothing he couldn't fix. He summoned some watchmaker's tools from his tool belt, and began tuning up the device.

It didn't take long before it was ready to be installed. Leo couldn't wait to see what it could do. He opened a panel below the ship's controls, and crawled into the opening to examine the wires inside.

"What are you doing?"

Leo jumped and banged his head on the bottom of panel. He crawled out, rubbing his head and cursing silently, to find Frank looking down at him.

"Well, I was getting ready to install the Archimedes sphere," Leo replied sarcastically, "but then I decided that I wanted to hit my head on the dash." He shook his head and crawled back under the control panel, leaving a very confused Frank behind. He pulled out a few wires, and then carefully backed out of the opening. He proceeded to attach them to the Archimedes sphere, ignoring Frank.

"Can I help?" Frank asked.

An idea formed in the back of Leo's head. Perfect payback. He carefully kept the grin off of his face, and pretended to consider Frank's request. "I suppose you could help me with the test run," he agreed. "Just wait till I've got these wires in place." This was going to be awesome.

A few minutes later, they were ready for the test run. Leo was practically shaking with anticipation and excitement.

"Okay, when I tell you, turn that dial over there all the way clockwise," Leo instructed.

Frank nodded in understanding, and went to stand by the dial.

Leo turned a couple knobs on the control board, and began to slowly push a lever into the up position. The Archimedes sphere buzzed with electricity.

"What's going on?" Frank asked.

"I'm seeing how much energy the sphere can take," Leo explained. "If I can open this circuit fully without the ship exploding, then it's ready for use."

"What?" Frank yelped. "The ship could explode?"

Leo nodded in confirmation, still pushing the lever. "I just hooked the sphere up to the engine, so there's a fifty-fifty chance. We should be fine."

"Fifty-fifty?" Frank squeaked.

Leo gave him an irritated look. "That's what I said, isn't it? Do I really need to explain every detail? There's a fifty percent chance that the ship goes boom and we die. There's a fifty percent chance that the ship no go boom and we live. Got it?" The lever finally reached the up position, and Leo flicked a few switches, then examined a gauge off to the side. He sighed with relief. The ship wasn't going to explode. "Okay," he called over to Frank, "you can turn that dial now."

Leo grinned mischieviously as Frank squeezed his eyes shut and turned the dial.

Frank was blown backwards as a big jolt of electricity went through the wires and into the Archimedes sphere, which began to glow. Frank screamed curses in Latin, his expression of absolute terror as arcs of electricity ran through the wires and sphere. Leo leapt up and rapidly flicked several switches on the panel. The system powered down, and the sphere's glow died.

Leo fist pumped. "Yes!" he shouted. "It works!"

Frank stared at him in shock. "You mean it was _supposed_ to do that?"

Leo grinned crazily at him. With his hair standing on end, he looked and felt just like a mad scientist. "No," he admitted. "That was defense mode. I programmed it to do that to freak you out."

Frank glared at him. "Valdez," he took a threatening step forward. "You are so dead."

Leo took several nervous steps backward as Frank started forward. Leo spread his hands placatingly. "Look, man, it was just for fun. Can't you take a joke?"

Frank kept coming. He was almost ontop of Leo now. He grinned evilly.

"Apparently not." He reached out his arm to grab him, but Leo was too quick for him. He dodged to the side and began running around the deck, Frank right on his heels.

Hazel and Nico emerged from the stairwell, and Leo quickly darted behind them. "Frank is going to kill me!" he shrieked. "Bad Frank! Get him, guys!"

Nico looked confused. "What's going on?"

Frank crossed his arms and pointed accusingly at Leo. "He electrocuted me as I was helping him install that metal basketball thing."

"Archimedes sphere," corrected Leo.

Hazel put her hands on her hips and turned towards Leo. "Is this true?" she demanded.

Leo couldn't stop himself from smiling. "Yes," he chortled. "You should have seen the look on his face." Leo couldn't stand it any longer, and found himself doubled over in laughter. He looked up to see Frank glaring at him, and laughed all the harder. Pretty soon, he was rolling on the deck, unable to control his gales of laughter.

The corners of Nico's mouth twitched, and Hazel had her hand over her mouth, merriment dancing in her eyes. Frank was still giving Leo a death glare.

Leo saw Piper and Jason came up the stairs. They saw Leo laughing on the deck, and looked at the others for an explanation.

"Apparently," Hazel informed them, swallowing her laughter, "Frank was helping Leo install the Archimedes sphere and Leo decided to electrocute him."

"His face," Leo wheezed at their feet. "Priceless."

Piper smiled slightly. Leo figured that he looked ridiculous, but he didn't care. Frank had really looked funny. It was such a little thing to laugh over, but he just had to let out the tension he'd been feeling for so many days. Leo laughed until tears of merriment rolled down his cheeks and his sides hurt, and then some after that. He only slowed down when Piper started talking.

"I've been thinking," Piper announced.

"Always a dangerous pasttime," Frank said absentmindedly.

Piper stared at him. "What?"

Frank blushed slightly. "Oh. Sorry. Ranger's Apprentice. It's my favorite book series. Just one of their catchphrases."

Everyone looked at him in confusion.

"Hold it," Leo said, pointing an accusing finger up at Frank from his position on the floor. "Did you just say you have a favorite book series? As in, you _read_?"  
Frank turned a little redder. "Well…yeah."

Leo scratched his head in confusion. "But I thought that all demigods have dyslexia."

Frank's face grew so red, he looked like a tomato.

"Okay, as I was saying," Piper interrupted, "I've been thinking." She glanced at Frank. When he said nothing, she continued. "What if we can Iris message Percy and Annabeth? I mean, there only has to be a rainbow on our side of the call, so maybe…" She left the statement hanging.

Leo sat up, gripping his sore sides and wiping tears of merriment off his cheeks. "That could work," he agreed. He scrambled to his feet and headed towards the control panel. He pulled out the hose that they had used the last time, and dragged it over to the mast. He turned it on, and angled the spray to make a rainbow. He taped it to the mast.

"Anyone got a drachma?" he asked. He turned around to find everyone staring at him.

"What?" he demanded.

"Nothing," Hazel said quickly. "Your mood changes…oh, never mind."

Leo had no idea what she was talking about.

Nico stepped forward, holding a drachma. "I've got one." He tossed it into the rainbow. "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show us Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus."

Leo noted that his voice faltered slightly as he said Tartarus.

The mist turned black.

Leo's hands drummed nervously on his thighs. He hoped that Piper was right. If they could communicate with Percy and Annabeth….

The mist turned black and a pleasant female voice said, "I'm sorry, but these people cannot be reached due to their location. Is there anyone else you wish to contact?"

Leo felt his heart sink down to his toes. "No," he told it.

"Thank you for using Iris Messaging services," the voice said. "Hopefully we can be of more help next time."

The blackness faded, leaving them staring at a misty rainbow.

"Well," Piper said, her voice heavy with disappointment. "It was worth a shot."

"I've never seen an Iris Message do that before," Nico said. "I mean, it used to be that it just didn't do anything. I guess Iris decided to get with the times and add an answering machine."

"It was probably Fleecy's idea," Frank muttered.

"What?" Leo asked.

"Never mind."

They sat in an uncomfortable silence, staring blankly at the rainbow, each one wrapped in their own thoughts.

After awhile, Leo moved forward and began to roll up the hose.

"Is that…an eagle?" Nico said suddenly.

Everyone heads swiveled in the direction Nico was pointing.

Leo shaded his eyes and peered out at the dark specks in the distance.

As they grew steadily closer, Leo saw that Nico was right. Coming towards them were huge golden eagles, pulling flying chariots filled with demigods. There were also a few pegasi carrying demigods.

"They're here," Hazel whispered.

Everyone crowded into the bow of the ship to watch their arrival.

"Why are there so few?" Piper asked. "There should be a lot more."

Leo studied the approaching group. Piper was right. There were only three eagles, each pulling a chariot with three demigods. There were also six pegasi, carrying two demigods each. This wasn't an army. Panic welled up inside of him. What had happened to the others? What if there had been an accident? What if they refused to come?

"There must be a reason," Jason mused.

"Well we're about to find out," said Nico. "Here they come."

Sure enough, they were only twenty feet away from them, closing the distance rapidly.

"Watch out!" called one of the demigods on a pegasus. "We're coming in for a landing!"

Leo and the others backed away from the rails and off to the side as the pegasi clattered onto the deck. They dropped off their riders and then took off again, giving the eagles space to drop off the demigods in the chariots. Turns out, the eagles didn't land. The demigods just jumped out of the chariots and onto the deck as they flew over, bending their knees to absorb the impact.

One of the demigods from the pegasi scowled. "Show offs," he grumbled.

Leo recognized him as Malcolm, Annabeth's second-in-command.

He brushed the pegasus hair off of him and turned to face the remaining demigods of the seven and Nico. He held up his hand as if to ward off any questions. "In case you're wondering, we are only an advance party. You know, letting you know we're here, how many are coming, make sure you guys are okay, and stuff like that. The others are about a day behind us, so they should be here sometime tomorrow."

Nyssa from Hephaestus cabin came up to them, rubbing her thighs. "Oh, my poor legs! Any chance of getting something to eat? We've been flying since the morning after that Iris Message."

"Uh, sure," Piper agreed. "The cafeteria is down those stairs and straight down the hall."

Nyssa nodded in thanks, and turned to head down the stairs. She looked back at Leo. "Way to stay alive, dude."

Leo didn't know what to say to that. "Uh, thanks?"

Nyssa turned and went down the stairs, closely followed by the other demigods.

Only Malcolm stayed. He turned towards Piper. "Um…do you think I could see the Athena Parthenos?"

Piper smiled. "Of course. Here, follow me."

She headed down the stairs, followed closely by Malcolm.

Leo turned to face the remainder of the seven. "So," he said nonchalantly, "who's ready to entertain a group of angsty Greek and Roman demigods?"

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**So what did you think? Let me know in a review! Four more until twenty! Think we can make it by the next chapter?**

**And yes, I totally made up anything to do with the activating of the Archimedes sphere. Just saying.**

**I may or may not alter this chapter based on what the next one will be.**

**Okay, so I have a very small idea on what to make the next chapter. I'm currently trying to figure out how to fit it into the empty space between the chapters I've already written. I promise I will try my hardest, but I'm so busy!**

**Check out my other stories, my community, and vote on my poll! Thanks to anyone who has already!**

**Five more days till "House of Hades"! Who else feels like they're about to die from excitement?**


	12. PIPER XII

**10-7-13**

**PLEASE READ THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE! I know it's long, but it's REALLY important for this story!**

**Oh. My. Gosh. I AM SO SORRY, YOU GUYS! I did NOT intend to take so long with this update! I've been trying to keep a pattern of two chapter per character, but I just haven't had time to write another Leo chapter! Plus, "House of Hades" comes out tomorrow (SQUEEEEEEEEEEE!), and I'm probably going to lose a lot of readers who are lucky enough to have the book on the first day. *Sigh***

**So, I've decided to just publish the last few incomplete scenes that I've got. They fit together okay, though I have a few blanks that I seriously should fill in, but I literally don't have time. So the next chapters will be disconnected and unfinished. If I get enough interest, I will come back and fill in the gaps when I have time, probably over winter break. No guarantees, though, because knowing me, I'll probably attempt to write the next book :P Don't worry, I'll make sure I publish it sooner than I did this one.**

**Thank you for bearing with me for this really long author's note!**

**Thank you SO much for your patience, and to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story! We reached twenty! Yay! :D**

**Enjoy!**

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**PIPER**

**Piper led Malcolm down the corridor to the stables.** "Over here," she told him. She swung open the door and the hall was immediately bathed in a warm golden light. Malcolm took a step back in surprise as Piper stepped inside, careful to avoid the large marble pedestal that took up almost the entire space. She waved him forward.

He hesitantly stepped into the room, flattening himself up against the wall like Piper, and carefully closed the door. They both craned their necks upward so they could see the entire statue.

Piper glanced at Malcolm. His jaw was practically touching the floor as he gaped at the statue.

"Pretty amazing, huh?" Piper said.

She took his silence as agreement.

"Did she really…?" He didn't seem able to finish the sentence, but Piper knew what he was asking.

"Yes. Annabeth did it all by herself."

He shook his head in amazement. "Honestly, I didn't really believe it until just now. This thing hasn't seen the light of day in centuries. It's been the children of Athena's mission to recover it ever since it was stolen. I've seen pictures but…wow. They don't even come close to the real thing." He seemed to realize he was rambling and closed his mouth with a snap.

"I don't mind," Piper said quickly. "I ramble all the time. Like my first day at Camp Half-Blood I was talking to Annabeth… " She trailed off, thinking of her best friend. Tears filled her eyes, threatening to fall down her cheeks, and she hastily wiped them away.

Malcolm turned to Piper, his face deadly serious. "We're going to get Annabeth out of Tartarus. If it's the last thing I do, I swear on the River Styx, I will get her out of there."

Piper stared at him in shock. "Malcolm, the prophecy—"

"So what? I said if it's the last thing I do, didn't I?"

They lapsed into an awkward silence.

"We should probably go back to the others," said Malcolm finally. "Before they come looking for us."

Piper smiled slightly.

"What?" Malcolm asked.

"Oh, Percy and Annabeth had a little escapade down here a few days ago. Snuck out in the middle of the night and came down here. Ended up falling asleep, and no one knew where they were. Everyone completely panicked. We thought they had been captured by Gaea's minions. Frank found them cuddled up on the bay doors, fast asleep, and Coach Hedge actually grounded them."

Malcolm allowed himself a faint smile. "Annabeth did that? I bet it was Percy's idea."

Piper shook her head. "Nope. Annabeth's idea. She was the one who woke him up."

Malcolm looked surprised, but made no further comment.

"We should probably go before they freak out," Piper agreed.

Malcolm nodded. "No offense, but I definitely don't want them to take this the wrong way."

"None taken. I agree with you. I already have a boyfriend." _I think_, she added mentally.

Malcolm managed to open the door and eased out of the narrow opening, Piper close behind. They headed down the hall to the cafeteria, each wrapped up in their own thoughts.

~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~

They found the other demigods gathered in the cafeteria, sitting and standing wherever there was room.

The scouting party was currently gorging themselves on their favorite foods, eating like their was no tomorrow, which was very possible. Leo was fiddling nervously with a bunch of wires and scrap metal while the remaining demigods of the seven and Nico were talking quietly in the corner.

Piper walked up next to Jason. "What's up?" she asked.

"The ceiling," Leo hollered.

Piper couldn't help but smile as she rolled her eyes at Leo. "I mean besides that."

"The sky," said Leo, not missing a beat.

Piper rolled her eyes again and turned back to Jason. "What's going on?" She carefully stressed the 'going on,' looking pointedly at Leo.

"Right now, nothing," Jason said. "Waiting for the rest of the army, I suppose."

"Gah!" Leo exclaimed. "I'm tired of waiting!"

Piper glared at him. "Would you rather be fighting an immortal army of monsters right now?"

Leo looked down sheepishly. "No," he admitted.

"Then we wait," Piper said.

There was an awkward pause.

"Now what?" Frank asked.

Leo held up his hands in a 'hold everything' gesture. "Let me guess. We wait."

"We've already been over this, Leo," Piper sighed.

"Doesn't change the fact that it's boring!" he cried. Suddenly, he sat straight up. "Or I could figure out with the Archimedes sphere!" He shot to his feet and ran out the door. "You guys have fun waiting!" he called. "I'm gonna make a death ray!"

Nyssa looked at Piper questioningly. "Archimedes sphere?"

"Death ray?" Clarisse's said, her eyes sparkling in an almost manic way.

"Uh, yeah," Piper said. "Leo, Hazel, and Frank found some Archimedes spheres and scrolls in an underground cavern, one of which has instructions to make a death ray. Leo finally found the time to install the master Archinedes sphere just before you arrived."

Nyssa's jaw dropped. "He found the lost works of Archimedes?" She got up and dashed after Leo. "Wait for me!" she called.

"Count me in!" Clarisse yelled, heading after the others. "Who are we killing?"

Jason raised an eyebrow at Piper. "Well, I guess our boredom problem is solved."

Piper grinned. "Yeah. Just wait till the other Hephaestus and Ares campers get here. It'll be a mess."

"Don't forget the Romans; Vulcan and Mars," he added.

"This could get interesting," she agreed.

They sat in companionable silence, each wrapped in their own thoughts as their comrades ate around them, one by one heading up after Leo, Nyssa, and Clarisse.

Soon, only Piper and Jason were sitting at the otherwise empty cafeteria table.

"Why'd he do it?" Jason said suddenly.

Piper looked up in surprise at the unexpected comment. "Why'd who do what?" she asked.

Jason ran a finger along the surface of the wood. "Percy," he said. "Nico said that Percy could easily have avoided Tartarus and let Annabeth fall. But he fell with her. Why?"

Piper sat back in her chair. She'd always thought that they had fallen through the floor when the cavern collapsed. That had been the accepted truth on the _Argo II_. Now, she realized, she might not have gotten the whole story. "What do you mean?" she said. "When did Nico tell you this?"

Jason sighed. "The night we left Rome. I asked him how it happened, why Percy and Annabeth hadn't reached the ladder like they had. And he told me." He fell silent, a faraway look in his eyes.

"What did he tell you?" Piper prompted.

Jason tapped his fingers nervously on the tabletop, glancing around the room and looking everywhere but at Piper.

She waited patiently, even though she was about ready to slap the guy to get on with the story.

Finally, he took a deep breath and turned to look Piper in the eyes.

"First of all," he started, "they didn't fall through the floor. They would have made it to the ladder."

"What happened?" Piper interrupted.

"I'm getting to that," he sighed. "Anyway, you know how Annabeth said that Arachne fell into Tartarus?"

Piper nodded, wondering how that was relevant to the story.

"Well, apparently she had somehow attached a web to Annabeth's ankle. Since Annabeth was all ready covered in cobwebs, none of us noticed until it was too late."

The connection clicked in Piper's head. She gasped on horror. "Oh my gods. She got dragged in."

Jason nodded grimly. "Percy went after her. He grabbed her hand to try and stop her, but the momentum carried them both through the opening." He took a shuddering breath, squeezing his eyes shut. "Percy managed to grab a small ledge fifteen feet from the opening. Nico finally got there, but he was too high up to help. At this point, Percy could have just let go. Of Annabeth's hand, I mean. But he didn't. Nico said Percy told him to lead the rest of us to the other side. Then—" His voice cracked. "He let go of the ledge."

Piper fell back in her seat, completely stunned. "How could he have found the courage to do that?" she whispered. "I mean, I know that they're a couple and they love each other, but how many people would throw themselves into Tartarus for his girlfriend?"

"Just one," a voice said.

Piper started in surprise at the sight of Frank sitting in the corner. She hadn't even noticed him there.

He stood up and made his way toward them. His eyes were red, as if he's been crying.

"Percy's fatal flaw is loyalty," he announced.

Piper and Jason exchanged a look.

"What do you mean, Frank?" Piper asked. "How do you know that?"

He scratched at the back of his head. "When Percy, Hazel, and I went on our quest to release Death," he said, "we stopped by my Grandma's house in Canada. That's where I used to live. Anyway, my dad, Mars, was there. The others didn't see him, which was good because Percy hates that guy. Apparently he fought him as Ares once—"

"What?" Piper yelped. "How is he _alive_?"

Frank shrugged. "No idea. I wasn't there. Well, my dad told me that all demigods have a fatal flaw. He said Percy's was loyalty, which basically means that he'd sacrifice the world to save a friend. To save his girlfriend? I can't imagine how he'd _ever_ let her go. Mars said that someday soon, Percy would have to make a sacrifice that he wouldn't be able to make. I—I was supposed to stop him, to help him put duty first. But I think I'm too late." He bowed his head, a tear falling down his cheek. He hastily scrubbed it away.

Piper stared at him. "Frank," she said gently, "it's okay. I don't think that was the sacrifice."

Frank looked up at her. "But he pretty much gave up his life! How is that not a sacrifice?"

"Frank," Jason said. "I don't think Percy thought of that as a sacrifice. He _wanted_ to do it. You weren't even there to stop him! If you're supposed to help him make that decision, how can you do that if you're not there?"

Frank stared mournfully at the table. He sniffed. "Doesn't change the fact that I feel horrible about it."

"Me too," Jason agreed.

Piper couldn't help wondering what Jason would do if she were the one to be dragged into Tartarus. Would he fall with her?

_Stop it_, she mentally chided herself. _Of course he would._

_But maybe he won't_, a nagging voice said in the back of her head.

_Shut up_, she told it.

"I still think I could've done something," Jason was saying.

"How many boys do I have to guilt check in twenty-four hours?" Piper exclaimed. "Seriously, guys, how many times do I have to tell you? It wasn't any of your faults! So stop beating yourselves up about it!"

"Okay, okay!" Jason cried, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "We get it, Pipes."

Piper felt the heat rushing to her cheeks. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Jason laughed. "Hey, it's okay," he assured her.

"Yeah," Frank agreed. "Sometimes it's nice to know that everything's not your fault."

There was an awkward silence.

Suddenly, a huge explosion came from the deck, the _Argo II_ shuddering violently.

Leo could be heard yelling, and Piper heard the name 'Clarisse' several times, as well as 'laser.'

"Um, what was that?" Frank said nervously.

"Maybe Leo shouldn't have mentioned the death ray to Clarisse," Piper said thoughtfully.

"You think?" Jason said, sighing. "We'd better go see what that was."

"Probably," Piper said.

They all stood up, and headed for the top deck.

~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~

When the reached the deck, it was all Piper could do not to laugh.

Standing in front of the controls was a very angry Leo Valdez, yelling at Clarisse who had a bored expression on her face. Sitting between them was a funny looking device with two poles standing parallel to each other with alternating miniature mirrors in a zigzag pattern between them. In front of the first mirror was a tiny flashlight.

"You should have been more careful!" Leo was saying. "Now I've gotta fix the dashboard!"

Piper looked behind him, and sure enough, the control board was smoking in a way it _definitely_ shouldn't have been. The smoke was coming from a hole about as big as a quarter in the middle of a ring of soot.

"Well, it's not _my_ fault the model went haywire," Clarisse countered. "_You_ didn't build it properly."

Leo's face turned a cherry red.

Piper barely bit back a gasp. Here was a replay of that horrible evening a few days ago. When Leo had almost run away after a very similar spat with Frank.

Leo continued to glare at Clarisse, his fists clenched at his sides. But Piper could see the absolute hurt radiating throughout his eyes.

She stepped forward, opening her mouth to say something, but someone beat her to it.

"All right, break it up!"

Piper swiveled around and saw to her surprise that it was Frank who had spoken up.

Frank lumbered toward the two, his face grim and determined. Frank may not be the most intimidating person in the world, but even Piper was a little unnerved by the glare he was giving Clarrise.

Clarisse hesitated, and Piper thought she saw her eyes flash warily. But it was gone too quickly for her to be certain.

Clarisse sneered, sizing Frank up. "Why should I?" she demanded. "This is Greek business. Stay out of it, Roman."

Piper heard gasps behind her, and knew with a sinking heart that the Romans had their hands on their weapons.

But Frank remained undeterred, not taking his eyes off Clarisse's face. "Daughter of Ares?" he said.

Clarisse shrugged. "Yeah. So?"

Frank held out his hand. "Son of Mars."

Clarisse's face turned from incomprehension, to shock, to anger. "You're my _half brother_?" she exclaimed. "No way. I cannot be related to this freak."

Frank's jaw clenched, and for a second, Piper thought he was going to lose it. But he just shook his head.

"And I can't believe I'm related to a bully," he countered.

Clarisse glared at him with such hatred, it was a wonder Frank didn't burst into flames.

"You mess with my friends," he said, placing a hand on Leo's shoulder. "You mess with me."

Clarisse rolled her eyes. "That was _totally_ something Prissy would say," she scoffed. Then her face turned pale, and she took a sudden interest in her shoes.

The demigods from Camp Half-Blood shuffled their feet, looking nervous.

"Who's Prissy?" Frank asked. Then his eyes widened in realization. "Oh. You mean Percy."

Clarisse looked back up to glare at him once more. "Not that you'd care," she spat.

Frank's cheeks turned a flaming red. "Of course I care," he said. "Percy is like a brother to me. And even though we're not related by blood, I find that I feel much closer to him than any of my siblings." He inclined his head slightly. "He made friends at Camp Jupiter too, you know. When the Argo II was about to land, he said, 'Let's go meet my other family.' He considers the Romans as much of a family as he does the Greeks. And he would want us to get along."

Clarisse flinched like she'd been slapped. Then her expression softened, and she almost looked…_guilty_. But Piper had to be mistaken.

"Now apologize to Leo," Frank commanded. "And the Romans."

Clarisse's expression immediately hardened and she looked like she was going to blow.  
For five long seconds, the two siblings faced each other, neither backing down from the other's glare.

"Fine," Clarisse grumbled. She turned to Leo. "Sorry for misfiring your stupid model death ray." She glanced around the deck at the gathered demigods. "And sorry Romans." She turned and started to stomp toward the stairs. Then she whirled around and pointed a challenging finger at everyone. "If you even think about telling Prissy about this," she hissed, clipping off every word. "You will not live to see another sunrise." Then she disappeared down the stairs, her angry footsteps echoing back up to the deck.

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**Yes, bad ending. This scene will not be continued in the next chapter... Like I said, I will try and come back when I have time and fill in all the gaps, but I am currently struggling to get all of my work done.**

**So what did you think? Not even my best work, but drop a review anyway?**

**Updates will be daily now that I've decided to publish what I have!**

**Check out my other stories and community! Last chance to vote on my poll!**

**See you tomorrow on the "House of Hades" release date!**


	13. ANNABETH XIII

**10-8-13**

**House of Hades coming out tonight**

**Everybody just have a good time!**

**WOOOOHOOOOO! The long awaited day has finally arrived, people! And let me start this out by saying to everyone who already has a copy in your hands, "NOOOOOOOOOOO FAAAAAAAAAAAAIR!" Actually, I might be getting a copy tonight, but I'm not sure yet :D I won't be able to read it until at earliest Saturday though since my mom has to read it first :( WHAT A WORLD, WHAT A WORLD!**

**Anyway!**

**This chapter is NOT my best. It's one of those scenes that's barely past the rough draft point, but hasn't been fully developed into awesomeness. I hope you like it anyway!**

**Okay, I was in a rush yesterday, so I didn't have time to personally thank everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed. So this chapter, I'm getting everyone from both chapters!**

**Chapter 11: Thank you TeamLeoV247 for following, favoriting, and reviewing! Thank you Hibye, ****Oops (my BFF :D), and Aleeta6 for reviewing!**

**Chapter 12: Thank you Lolz247 for following and favoriting! And thank you Guest for reviewing!**

**Enjoy!**

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**ANNABETH**

**Annabeth was exhausted.** After how many days in Tartarus, the lack of sleep and nerve-racking images were starting to get to her. She knew she couldn't go on much longer before she cracked completely.

She leaned wearily against Percy's shoulder as they trudged slowly along. Time and distance had no meaning down here. For all she knew, they could have walked a hundred miles already. It all seemed the same to her feet.

Without meaning to, she just collapsed onto the ground.

Percy immediately crouched down next to her. "Annabeth, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

She buried her face in her hands. A strangled, choking sound escaped from her mouth. Ever since she was seven, she had been dying to go on a quest, for a chance to see the world. Now, all she wished was that she had never left Camp Half-Blood.

She felt Percy pull her closer to him, placing her on his lap.

She buried her face in his chest and just sobbed. She was tired of acting strong for everyone around her. She was tired of hiding her emotions. She was tired of acting like a leader when on the inside, she still felt like the scared little girl who had run away from home.

"Wise Girl, what's wrong?" Percy asked, sounding slightly panicked. "Are you hurt?"

"I can't do this anymore," she cried. "I'm just so tired, Percy. So tired. When will it end?"

Percy remained silent for a moment, and Annabeth knew he was thinking it over. "After this war," he said decisively. "I will make it end, one way or another. I promise."

Annabeth tilted her head so she was looking up at him.

His expression was grim and determined, his sea green eyes flashing with defiance, like he was ready to go punch the Fates in the face in order to fulfill his promise. His oath.

"Percy," she gasped. "The prophecy."

He shrugged. "That wasn't an oath. I can make it one—"

"Don't you dare, Perseus Jackson."

He raised an amused eyebrow at her, and she realized he had been messing with her.

She punched him lightly on the arm. "Seaweed Brain," she giggled, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"Ready to go?" he asked softly. "Something's bound to attack us sooner or later if we stay here too long."

Annabeth took a deep breath. "Yeah, sure," she said.

He studied her closely. "You sure you're okay?"

She nodded tightly. "Fine."

She could tell that he didn't believe her.

He wrapped his arm under hers, and pulled her to her feet.

She slumped against him, completely exhausted. She felt she could just fall asleep right there. But nonetheless, when he started walking, she walked with him.

They staggered along for an interminable amount of time. There was no way to tell how far they'd gone, or even if they'd moved at all.

Suddenly, Percy stiffened.

Annabeth leaned away from him and gripped the hilt of her dagger, scanning the darkness surrounding them. "What is it, Percy?" she whispered.

He didn't answer.

Annabeth turned over to look at him. She scanned his face, trying to find out what was wrong. She held up her dagger for light, and looked into his eyes. His golden eyes. She gasped, and stumbled backwards. "Percy?"

He faced her, his expression deathly calm. "Hello, Annabeth Chase," he rasped. But his voice wasn't his own. It was rough and hollow, speaking like English was his second language.

"Eidolons," Annabeth murmured. "No. It can't be."

He sneered in a very un-Percy like way. "Did you really think you had gotten rid of us? Did you not remember that only the three strongest were sent onto your ship? Oh, yes, Annabeth Chase, there are many more of us. And we are not held to the oath the others swore." He raised Riptide and Annabeth scrambled to her feet, backing away from her boyfriend.

Percy turned and followed her.

Panic welled up in Annabeth's chest. She knew she couldn't beat Percy in a fight, not that she'd ever admit it to anyone. "Percy," she pleaded. "Snap out of it."

Percy snarled. "You will pay for what you have done to my brethren. Beg for mercy if you wish, girl, but it won't change anything."

"In your dreams," Annabeth muttered. She tried to think through her panic. How could she get Percy back? She dimly remembered that each time one of the boys were possessed, they seemed to go back to normal after they were knocked unconscious. How could she manage to do that?

Suddenly, she tripped over a rock and ended up sprawled on the rocky ground. She gasped in pain as the gravel pierced her hands, blood running off onto the floor. She quickly spun on to her back, and saw Percy standing over her, Riptide already thrusting toward her.

Desperately, she yanked her dagger from its sheath and deflected the blade just in time. It clanged against the rocks three inches from her waist.

She scrambled to her feet, and turned to run. Then she hesitated. She didn't want to leave Percy behind, possessed or otherwise. If she ran now, would she ever find him again? She didn't want to risk it. She didn't think she would last long without him. But then, if she stayed, she wouldn't last long _with_ him. Life was so complicated.

She realized too late that she had stood there too long.

She gagged as something grabbed the collar of her shirt and yanked her backwards. She was roughly spun around and she found herself face to face with a golden-eyed Percy.

He wrapped his free arm around her waist, but this wasn't a loving embrace. He had sucessfully pinned her arms to her sides.

He smirked. "Prepare to die, weakling," he snarled.

"Percy," Annabeth whispered, looking him in the eyes. "Please."

His face remained expressionless as he brought back Riptide for the final blow.

She struggled, trying to free her arms, but Percy's grip was like iron. She stared at him, trying to see right through his golden eyes to the real Percy she knew was in there. "I love you," she whispered.

Annabeth saw confusion flicker across Percy's face. The sword paused midswing. He blinked hard. When his eyes opened again, Annabeth almost sobbed. They were their usual beautiful sea green.

"Annabeth?" he asked in confusion. Then he noticed his arm restraining hers and that he was holding Riptide about a foot from her throat.

His expression changed to horror and he dropped the sword like it was on fire. He collapsed to the ground, holding his head in his hands.

Annabeth knelt down next to him.

"Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods," Percy cried repeatedly, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"Percy," Annabeth said.

Percy looked up at her, his eyes wide and filled with horror. "Annabeth, I—" His voice cracked. "I almost killed you." He covered his face in his hands once more. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I can't believe I…oh gods."

Annabeth lifted his chin and pulled him forward into a kiss. She pulled away after a couple of moments and stared into his horrified green eyes.

"It's fine, Seaweed Brain," she whispered. "I know that wasn't you."

"But I could have hurt you," he stammered. "I—I could have killed you!"

"But you didn't," Annabeth pointed out. She lifted his chin with her finger. "Hey, it's okay," she said softly, though she was still shaken. She reached out and hugged him tightly.

Percy hesitated, then hugged her back.

"I love you," Annabeth whispered. "And no eidolon will ever change that."

"I love you too," Percy said. "And even Hera can't take that away."

He stood up, uselessly brushing his filthy jeans.

Annabeth hauled herself up beside him.

"Let's go," she sighed.

He nodded tiredly.

Once more, they pressed onward, though Annabeth was starting to wonder if it was really worth it.

She looked up and stopped in her tracks.

Percy stumbled next to her at the unexpected pause, almost dragging them both to the ground. "What is it?" he asked, his eyes darting around, looking for an attacker.

Annabeth stared in awe at the sight in front of them. "Look," she whispered.  
Percy looked up and gaped slightly.

A giant door rose up about a half mile ahead, made out of pitch black granite. Dim light shone through the too big entrance, and she realized that the door frame was big enough for two doors, meaning that the other door must be outside.

"The Doors of Death," she murmured. "We made it. We actually made it."

A huge grin broke out on Percy's face, the first time Annabeth had ever seen him really smile since they landed in Tartarus.

"Of course we made it, silly," he said jokingly, jostling her playfully with his elbow. "We're together. And when we're together, there's nothing we can't do."

Annabeth returned the shove, a smile slowly making an appearance in her face. "That sounded so cheesy, Seaweed Brain," she giggled.

Percy hooked his arm more tightly around Annabeth's waist. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

Together, they began the walk to the Doors.

Annabeth saw a noticeable spring come to Percy's step as they once again headed for their goal. She held back a little, an unpleasant thought that she had pushed to the corners of her mind coming to the front.

Percy seemed to notice her lack of excitement.

"Aw, come on, Wise Girl," he said, a smile still on his face. "What's wrong? We're going to get out of here."

Annabeth nodded slightly. "I know. But the thing is, Percy—"

"Hold up," Percy interrupted. "Annabeth, I know what you are going to say. Listen, this is not an illusion. I can feel it. The illusions we had only happened when the white mist was here, remember? We should be fine."

Annabeth nodded, acknowledging his point. "That's not really entirely what I was thinking about," she said softly.

"What is it?"

Annabeth chewed at her lip, not meeting his gaze. "Well…you see…the Doors have to be closed on both sides."

Percy nodded, though he still didn't seem to get it. Oh, the Seaweed Brain.

"So, there has to be demigods on both sides," she continued.

He nodded again.

"What's going to happen once the Doors are closed?"

Percy froze in his tracks as he finally understood what she was trying to tell him. He turned so that he was looking directly into her haunted grey eyes. "Annabeth, let's not worry about that right now. We found the Doors. We survived Tartarus. We'll worry about it when the time comes, all right?"

Annabeth nodded, but she wasn't convinced. "We should probably keep moving," she said finally. She glanced over her shoulder and her heart stopped. "It's back!" she squeaked, and started pulling him away.

The mist was chasing them once more, silky white tendrils oozing across the ground and walls.

Percy glanced behind them, and his gaze widened. His expression became absolutely terrified, and he put on an extra burst of speed.

Annabeth knew that however bad the images were for her, they were ten times worse for Percy. His fatal flaw was just too easy to use against him.

They staggered forward as fast as they could, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread as they walked towards the Doors of Death. Someone would have to stay behind. When they reached the Doors, he would probably have to say good bye to Annabeth forever. The problem would be getting her through the Doors and outside withought her getting back in. He was jolted out of his thoughts as Annabeth tripped over a rock, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

He quickly pulled her up and wrapped a supportive arm around her waist, practically dragging her along as he moved forward. The mist was gaining. His throat closed in fear and he picked up the pace, striving to avoid the horrible mist. Already he could hear the tortured screams of his friends and family as the mist drew ever closer.

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**So what do you think? I know, TOTALLY not my best, but drop a review anyway? Remember, enough interest and I'll come back and fill in the gaps!**

**Two or three more chapters, and I'm sad to say that that's all that I've written. I'll come back when I have time! Promise!**

**TODAY IS "HOUSE OF HADES"! WHOOOOOOPEEEEEEE!**


	14. LEO XIV

**10-9-13**

**IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!**

**Hey, guys! Okay, so the last three chapters—like I said—were all disconnected rough drafts. These next few chapters are actually connected.**

**I'm REALLY sorry about the cliffies on the last couple of chapters. Unfortunately, they're going to stay that way for awhile.**

**So, this chapter's starting up with the assumption that the rest of the army has already arrived. I'm kinda disappointed that I didn't have time to connect the previous scenes with this, because I had a big old sissy fight planned for their war council. *Sigh* Well, like I said, the next few chapters are all connected to each other.**

**Thank you Olympus97 for following, favoriting, and reviewing! Thank you TeamLeoV247 for reviewing!**

**Enjoy!**

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**LEO**

**Leo looked down on the battlefield-to-be from his position at the ****_Argo II_****'s helm.** Horns blew below them as the monsters scrambled into ranks under the rapidly descending war ship. They had been spotted.

Leo winced as he remembered that this was the same thing that happened when they had first entered New Rome. That hadn't ended well. And the monsters weren't going to be as hesitant about blasting them out of the sky at first sight.

Greek and Roman demigods lined the deck of the _Argo II_, watching the enemy grow closer and closer. Flying chariots pulled by eagles and holding more demigods followed the trireme on either side, making a V with the _Argo II_ at its peak.

"Fire the ballistae, Coach!" Jason shouted from his position in the crow's nest. "Aim for those catapults!"

Coach Hedge grinned demonically and Leo was glad he wasn't on the receiving end. "It will be my infinite pleasure, Grace," he hollered. He yanked back the trigger, sending flaming javelins into the ranks of monsters below. "Die!" he yelled gleefully.

Everyone cheered as round after round of shots slammed into the catapults and monsters below, wrecking havoc in the ranks.

"Frank!" Jason called, causing said person to jump in surprise. "Fire at will!"

Frank gulped slightly, then nodded. He raised his bow and nocked an arrow. He pulled the feathered end up to his ear and paused to aim. No sooner had he shot the arrow before another was sailing after it.

Leo watched in amazement as Frank shot arrow after arrow in a matter of seconds, sometimes nocking two or three at a time. Frank Zhang was full of surprises.

"Apollo cabins, stand ready!" Will Solace from the Greek Apollo cabin shouted.

The Apollo campers from both camps raised their bows, waiting for the next order.

Will studied the monsters below, gauging the range. He raised his own bow. "Steady…steady…fire!"

Dozens of arrows shot off the ship, heading like angry wasps into the monsters below.

"Load!" Will demanded. "Ready…aim…fire!"

Another wave of arrows shot towards their targets below.

Leo knew this wouldn't last much longer. Once the monsters recovered from the initial attack, they would return fire. As if in answer to his unspoken thought, Leo heard a strange whistling sound that grew in pitch and volume. The rock flew just above the mast of the _Argo II_, narrowly missing Jason.

"Coach!" Jason shouted. "Take out the catapults!"

"Die!" Coach replied, releasing another round of javelins.

"Leo, Hazel! Ready the death ray!" Jason continued.

Leo swallowed nervously and nodded.

He dashed over to a set of hastily added controls, and typed a few commands into the keyboard. Suddenly, the _Argo II_ came alive, panels squeaking and whirring, planks turning to expose shining Celestial bronze mirrors. Hazel dragged the huge spotlight into position in front of the mirror placed above the stern.

Leo turned the dial to fifty percent power. He kept his hand poised above the button, waiting for Jason's order.

They were three thousand feet in the air and closing. The monsters looked like ants below them, with the occasional beetle which marked the presence of a giant.

"Keep your heads down!" Jason warned.

Every couple minutes, a cannonball would fly past, but they were still mostly out of range of flying projectiles.

Two thousand feet.

Leo could now distinctly hear the roars of the monsters below, cheering on their comrades who were firing at the _Argo II_.

"I can see giants!" Jason called.

Leo peered over Festus's bronze head and peered down at the ground below. Sure enough, he could see maybe half a dozen giants among the monsters. He got a sour taste in his mouth as he saw Porphyrion among the group. He was too far away to be able to see any details, but he'd recognize that horrible braided hair anywhere. Unfortunately, he could also see Enceladus. Those greasy dreadlocks were easy to spot. The giant looked no worse for wear after getting swallowed by earth eight months ago. But then, his mother was Gaea, so he supposed it made sense. Okay, it didn't make any sense.

He didn't recognize any of the other giants. One appeared to be wearing some sort of pink bathrobe and bunny slippers, which would have been funny if the giant hadn't been setting fire to hay bales with his breath. Leo dimly wondered why he would do that.

His answer came pretty quick as he saw a flaming bale fly past the mast, setting the sails on fire.

"Hey!" Leo cried. "Those were made on Athena's own loom! Do you realize how many drachmas those things cost?"

"Leo, look out!" Jason cried.

Leo instinctively leapt off to his left, just in time. A flaming hay bale smashed into the spot where he had been standing. He sighed in relief…until the hay bale's momentum caused it to roll over on top of him, slamming him onto the deck.

All he could see was red. He felt like he'd gotten hit by a bowling ball. The fire didn't hurt him, obviously, but the hay bale was sitting on his chest. The combination of the superheated air around him and the weight of the hay bale made it nearly impossible to breathe.

He dimly heard someone cry out his name and the weight being pulled off his chest. He gasped for breath as the air around him became a more tolerable temperature. He opened his eyes to see…three Pipers?

Leo shook his head like a dog and looked back at the Pipers. Er, Piper.

"You okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "Where'd your sisters go?"

"What?"

"Never mind." He stood up shakily and leaned against the control board, trying to stop his head from spinning. He was lucky the bale hadn't hit him straight on, or he'd have been a Leo pancake. He gratefully accepted the square of ambrosia Piper gave him and took a small bite.

His vision cleared and the throbbing in his chest went down some. Hazel and Nico had already put out the fire caused by the bale, using the hose stored under the control board. Coach Hedge was beating at the still smoldering hay with his baseball bat.

"Die!" he screamed gleefully.

Leo figured that the Coach was finally living up to his first name: Gleeson.

"Coach!" Jason cried. "Get back to the ballistae!"

The satyr hesitated before glaring down at the now extinguished hay bale. "I'll get you later," he promised. He then clopped off to the ballistae.

Leo turned back to the controls, listening to Festus's status report. So far, nothing was severely damaged.

He looked over the bow. Five hundred feet to go.

"Fire the death ray!" Jason hollered.

Leo held his hand over a big red button. He hesitated slightly before slamming his fist into the button, praying to his father that it wouldn't incinerate the _Argo II_. The spotlight turned on and reflected of the mirror, causing a buzzing sound to fill the air. The light bounced back and forth between the mirrors placed in a zigzag pattern between the two masts, the buzzing sound growing louder and louder as the beam grew smaller and smaller. Finally, the beam flashed into a prism before shooting off into the ranks of monsters below.

Leo could hear screeches of terror as he waved the joystick from a claw machine back and forth, moving the beam around. Every monster the beam touched immediately exploded into dust.

"Woohoo!" Leo shouted in ecstasy. He started hitting the button on the joystick rapidly, shooting lasers into the enemy like a mini Death Star.

"Hey, no fair!" Coach Hedge huffed.

Leo grinned at him crazily before swirling the joystick in a circle. "Bet'cha I can kill more monsters than you," he taunted.

His old gym teacher's eyes glistened with an almost manic look. "You're on, Valdez." He returned his attention to the ballistae, launching with renewed vigor. "Take that, you Tartarus scum! Die!" he screamed.

Leo was starting to question the old goat's sanity, but he continued with the death ray.

Below them, the giants were trying to get control of their panicking army.

They were about seventy-five feet from the ground now.

"Leo, prepare to launch the special package!" Jason yelled.

Leo licked his lips nervously and turned off the death ray. He moved off to the lever that controlled the bay doors in the stables. In order to drop the statue, they would have to get down to, at the highest, a few feet above the tallest giants. He would have to time this perfectly. Too early and the statue would shatter or fall over. Too late and the _Argo II_ would be driven into the ground. Which meant he and his friends would probably end up as grease spots on the black granite floor of the House of Hades.

He felt his throat tighten. The gravity of the coming events finally hit him. There was a very high probability that some of them might not make it. Once they were got to the ground, all advantages lay with the monsters. The ideal situation would have been to attack from the air, but with the Doors of Death wide open, it would be useless. Besides, that's what their mission was in the first place: to close the Doors of Death. You couldn't exactly do that from the air. Once the demigods began to fight at ground level, they couldn't exactly fire the ballistae without hitting their own troops. That is what demigods like to call a problem.

"Everyone, duck and cover!" Jason warned.

Everyone on board ducked behind the shields lining the sides, and Frank raised a shield over his and Leo's heads.

Not a moment to soon.

Enemy arrows whistled down onto the deck, most tearing through what remained of the sails and thudding, quivering, into the deck. Leo could hear a couple thuds on the shield over his head, and he instinctively wanted to crouch, but he elected to trust Frank and the shield and keep to his task.

He kept his eyes glued to the ground, estimating the remaining distance. The statue was forty feet tall. There was fifty feet to go.

Forty-nine feet…forty-eight…forty-seven…

His hands were slick with sweat as he gripped the lever. He couldn't afford to mess up. If he got this wrong, he and his friends would die.

Something struck a glancing blow on the hull of the _Argo II_. Festus creaked a warning and Leo gritted his teeth in frustration.

Forty-three…forty-two… forty-one…NOW!

Leo gripped the lever and shoved it forwards.

Hazel held out her hands to try and guide the huge statue as best as she could so it wouldn't topple over when it hit the ground.

Leo practically tripped over his own feet as he reached for the aviation controls. He jerked it up and the _Argo II_ shot up three hundred feet in three seconds, leaving Leo's stomach somewhere down with the statue.

He leveled out at about five hundred feet above the monsters, and turned to see the reaction to the package.

The effect was instantaneous.

The giants cried out in fear and took several steps away from the statue. The monsters hissed and backed up with their leaders, eyeing the statue wearily.

"Chariots!" Reyna shouted. "Attack!"

The demigods in the flying chariots roared a battle cry and swooped down to attack the dazed armies.

"Woohoo!" Leo cried, pumping his fist. "That's what I'm talking about!"

Jason flew down to the deck, his face set in grim lines.

"Good job, Leo," he said. His eyes wandered over the edge of the boat, staring at the open Doors of Death. "I'm going to take Piper and see if Percy and Annabeth have made it to the Doors. Think you can hold the fort?"

"Sure," Leo agreed. His face broke into a grin. "No detours, you two."

Jason gave him a small smile, but Leo noticed his cheeks had turned pink.

"No problem, Admiral," Jason said, giving a small salute.

He strode over to Piper, and said something.

Piper nodded, and Jason wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Meet us at the Doors," Jason told Leo. Then he and Piper shot up in the air and disappeared over the side of the boat.

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**So what do you think? Let me know in a review!**

**Forgot to mention this before, but I am now a beta reader! So if anyone's interested in having me as a beta reader, PM me! I am currently accepting requests.**

**Also, there's a poll on my profile regarding some stories I'm thinking about, or in the process of, writing. If you guys could vote real quick about the ones you would like to read most, that would be great! Thanks!**

**See ya'll tomorrow!**

**OH MY GOSH I'M GONNA DIE BEFORE THE BOOK COMES IN FROM THE LIBRARY! GAAAAAAAAAH!**


	15. ANNABETH XV

**10-10-13**

**Hey, guys! Not much to say right now.**

**Oh, one thing: please do not put "House of Hades" spoilers in your reviews! First of all, I haven't read the book yet, and second of all, I don't want it being spoiled for anyone else who happens to look at the reviews. I'm just saying that because somebody reviewed with a spoiler for one of my other stories. That was a very unpleasant surprise...**

**Thank you Phoenix McLean for reviewing!**

**I suppose I've gotten so little response for the last chapter because everyone's reading the real awesomeness right now... *Sigh***

**Enjoy!**

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**ANNABETH**

**Annabeth placed her hands on the Door and pushed with all her might.** Beside her, Percy was fending off the monsters that were trying to stop her. Annabeth struggled against the Door. It was so heavy, it was like holding the sky. And she knew firsthand what that was like. No matter how hard she tried, it wouldn't budge.

"Percy," she called. "A little help."

Percy backed up into the Door and leaned as best he could while still fighting the monsters. It still wouldn't close.

"Why won't it move?" Annabeth panted.

"Maybe," suggested Percy between thrusts, "we need more power?"

Annabeth's mind was in a turmoil. Why wouldn't it move? She heard the sounds of battle on the other side. The others must have made it. Wait a minute. If the Doors had to be closed on both sides, maybe both of the Doors had to be pushed shut at the same time.

"Percy," she shouted over the noise, "do you think you can hold them off long enough for me to talk to the demigods on the other side?"

"Yeah, sure," he grunted. "Just don't take too long."

Annabeth hesitated slightly. She didn't want to leave Percy here, but she didn't have a a choice. She had to let the others know if they were going to close the Doors. But she just couldn't bring herself to leave him.

Percy turned his head and their eyes locked. Annabeth leaned forward and kissed him softly.

"Be careful, Seaweed Brain," she whispered.

She quickly dashed around the edge of the Door, wiping away a single tear. She stopped for a moment, blinking in the light. It really wasn't that bright out considering that storm clouds completely covered the sun, but after being underground for so long, this was almost blinding. Her jaw dropped in shock as she saw what lay in front of her. Guarding the Doors was an enormous army of monsters, but that wasn't the shocking part. Making their way to the Doors, she could see Greek banners and the Golden Eagle of Rome. Roman eagles and Greek pegasi. Orange T-shirts and purple T-shirts. Imperial gold mixed with Celestial bronze. The two camps were here. And they were working together.  
She probably could have stood there all day staring at this phenomenon, but she shook herself out of it. They had to close the Doors of Death. She had to get back to Percy. She saw Jason flying over the horde with Piper in his arms, aiming for the Doors. Annabeth dashed out into the temple, and almost cried. Fresh air, after all those days underground.

She waved her arms in the air. "Jason," she shouted. "Over here!"

Jason saw her and a huge grin broke out on his face. He dove down and placed Piper gently onto the ground before landing himself.

"Annabeth!" Piper screeched in delight, jumping on her and giving her a bear hug.

Annabeth stiffened. She grabbed Piper's arm and flipped her over head. Before she knew it, Piper was floored on the ground and Annabeth had her dagger pressed against her throat. Annabeth's breath came in ragged gasps. She quickly climbed off of Piper and scrambled away, her hands pressed against her forehead.

"Oh gods," she stammered. "Sorry, I'm so sorry, I just… not used to… " She collapsed onto the ground and started sobbing, tears flooding down her cheeks as she rocked back and forth. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to," she rambled. She flinched as Piper and Jason crouched in front of her.

"Hey, it's okay," Piper soothed, though she looked pretty shaken. She smiled slightly. "I thought you said you only did that to your boyfriend. What does that make me?"

Annabeth managed a small smile. She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "Sorry," she repeated. "It's just these past few days, weeks, whatever, anything that touched you was an enemy."

Piper reached out as if to comfort her, but she hesitated.

Annabeth nodded to reassure her that it was fine, and Piper began to rub her back.

Annabeth stiffened slightly, but managed to relax as Piper's hand made small circles on her back.

"It's okay," Piper soothed. "You're out now. You're safe."

Annabeth shook her head and buried her face in her hands. "No," she said. "I have to go back. Percy's still in there. I can't leave him." She took a deep breath, and stood. "I just came to tell you that we can't close the Door on our side. We think it's because the Doors are designed to be closed on both sides, which means you guys have to push on the Door out here at the same time we're pushing ours."

Piper still looked worried, but nodded. "Okay."

"By the way," Annabeth said. "How'd the two camps get here?"

Jason's face broke into another huge grin. "Oh my gods, you should have seen it. Piper single-handedly convinced both camps to stop fighting and come help us through an Iris Message. It was amazing!"

Piper blushed. "You helped me," she protested. "You told them about the Athena Parthenos. I completely forgot about that."

"Seriously, Piper?" Jason said. "It was amazing!"

Annabeth laughed lightly. "You're just like Percy," she said. "He can never take a compliment. That was good thinking, Piper. Now I should get back."

She turned to leave.

"Wait!" Piper said. "You don't have to go. You shouldn't go. Let one of us go instead. Let me go."

Annabeth stopped and managed a small smile. "Unfortunately, the decision has been made," she said. "Percy won't leave anyone behind. And I won't leave him behind."

She turned back and gave Piper a hug. "Punch Gaea in the nose for me, will you?"

Piper's eyes watered. "I—I will," she gulped.

Annabeth let go and gave Jason a quick squeeze. "Take good care of her, Jason," she said. "Say hi to Thalia for me."

Then, before they could react or she could change her mind, she dashed back into the horrible blackness of Tartarus.

~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~

Annabeth placed her back against the Door, and stabbed a hellhound that had been about to bite off Percy's head. "Piper and Jason are on the other side," she told him. "Start pushing." She leaned against the Door as hard as she could, Percy doing the same. The hinges creaked and groaned in protest, but the Doors slowly started moving inwards.

"It's working!" Annabeth cried out in glee. She positioned herself so that she could lean and stab at the same time.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the Doors started creeping closed. The monsters attacking them redoubled their efforts to stop them, unwilling to let their entrance into the world be closed so easily. As the monsters pressed them harder and harder, Annabeth found herself unable to keep pushing the Door without getting overwhelmed.

"Annabeth," called Percy, "try moving the Door by yourself. I'll guard your back."

Percy moved over until he was directly in front of her, and Annabeth turned around and pushed with all her might. She could hear the grunts of the other demigods on the other side as they shoved too. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the Door to move.

"Not working," she gasped. "We have to do it together."

"How can we do that?" he asked. "I can barely keep the monsters off of us."

Annabeth tried to think as she stabbed at the monsters. Obviously, she wasn't strong enough to close it by herself. It had to be both of them. But how could they do that without getting mauled to death?

Something grabbed her shoulder. She swung around, slicing with her dagger, and just managed to stop herself before she cut off Nico's head.

"Whoa!" he cried, taking a step back. "Watch it!"

"What are you doing here?" Annabeth snapped, directing her attention back to the monsters. "You should be helping them on the other side."

"They don't need it. The other five are already working on the other Door, but it wasn't moving, so we figured you guys were in trouble on this side. I'll fight, you guys push. Rachel says that only the demigods of the seven should close the Doors."

Annabeth considered shoving him back through to the other side. She realized with a shock that Nico of all people had volunteered to help them on this side, and he was the only one who had been in Tartarus before. He must be terrified of this place, but he'd come in anyway. She decided that at the last possible moment, she would force him through to the other side.

"Fine," she agreed. "Percy, help me push. Nico's taking over the fighting for now."

"How'd Nico get in here?" Percy asked.

Nico gestured behind him. "I used the Doors."

"Ha ha, very funny," grumbled Percy.

"Guys!" Annabeth pleaded.

"Right," Percy said. "Survive now, talk later."

Annabeth turned around and shoved the Door. Beside her, Percy had his back to it, pushing and helping Nico at the same time. The Door began moving again, slowly creeping farther and farther into its frame.

Time became a blur as Annabeth alternately shoved at the Door and hacked at the monsters. Before she knew it, there was only about two feet of space remaining of the wide open space they had started with.

"Nico," she panted, "get out of here."

Nico hesitated, then shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Nico," Percy insisted, "get going. Now."

"Not happening, Percy."

Annabeth glared at Nico. The gap was getting smaller. About a foot to go. She was not going to let Nico stay with them. He had already been in here once, and almost shattered. If he stayed with them, he would break.

Percy must've been thinking the same thing. Without warning, he grabbed Nico around the waist, and forced him through the gap. He planted his back on the Door. "Annabeth," he panted. "Go. Get out of here."

Annabeth stared at him in shock. "Percy! How dare you even think such a thing? I'm staying here, with you."

"Annabeth, just go! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you stayed."

"Of course you wouldn't, cause you would go crazy and die, so you wouldn't be living at all. I'm staying with you, Seaweed Brain."

He opened his mouth to protest, but Annabeth leaned over and kissed him. "As long as we're together," she whispered.

He hesitated slightly. Annabeth could see the relief in his eyes. "Together," he repeated. He began to push on the Door again. "Quick," he grunted, "in case Nico tries to get back in."

Annabeth positioned herself on the Door, and gave it all she had left.

Six inches…four inches…two inches…

She heard a startled yell behind her, and whirled around to see Percy sliding on his back towards the monsters. How had that happened? Then she saw it. Somehow, they had managed to put a shackle on Percy's ankle.

"Percy!" she screamed, starting towards him.

"Don't worry about me," he called as he tried to fend off the monsters swarming him, "Close the—" he was cut off as the monsters completely buried him.

"Percy!" she shrieked in horror. "No!" She was still screaming as she turned around and gave the Door one last desperate shove. It slammed shut with a jaw rattling boom, and she slammed the bolt into place. The monsters wailed angrily. She didn't stop to celebrate, but charged into the mob, slicing at everything within reach of her dagger.

"Get away from him!" she shouted, punctuating each word with a stab of her dagger. "Get away!" She fought with such ferocity that the monsters quickly backed out of reach. She rushed to Percy's side. He was curled up in a ball, his eyes squeezed tightly shut, holding his stomach.

"Percy," she whispered. No response. She reached over and shook his shoulder slightly. "Percy," she said, more insistently, "get up."

Percy moaned quietly, but still didn't open his eyes. His breath came in shallow, ragged gasps.

Annabeth fought down a surge of panic. Don't freak out, she thought to herself, Remember your training. She examined him carefully. There were a few claw marks on his back and shoulder, but nothing too serious. Wait a second. She leaned in closer and peered at his hands, which were still clenched tightly around his stomach. She gasped in horror. His shirt was soaked in blood. She gently pulled his hands away from his stomach.

"Oh no," she muttered, tears filling her eyes, "Please, no." Something had slashed Percy across the stomach, and from all of the blood surrounding the wound, it was pretty deep. She ripped off her shirtsleeve and dabbed at the horrible wound as best as she could, but the makeshift bandage was soon soaked with blood.

Annabeth collapsed on top of Percy, sobbing brokenly. They had run out of nectar and ambrosia a long time ago. She didn't even have any water. There was nothing else she could do. The cut was too deep. She could hear the monsters as if from a distance. They were probably closing in right now. But she didn't care. Nothing else mattered except that Percy was going to die.

Tears dripped down from her cheeks and onto Percy's face. He stirred slightly as the tears dropped on him. Wait a minute. Annabeth leaned back and studied Percy closely. A little bit of color had returned to his face. But then, just as quickly, he started getting pale again. Annabeth tried to think through her grief. Why would that happen? She put her head in her hands, and realized that her cheeks were slick with tears. Tears. Water. Was it possible? Quickly, she ripped off another part of her shirt, and sobbed into it, trying to make it as wet as possible, which wasn't hard to do. Pretty soon, the rag was soaked. She pressed it onto the cut on Percy's stomach, praying desperately.

Blood stopped gushing from the wound and started flowing more slowly. A fresh sheet of tears rolled down Annabeth's cheeks, but this time they were tears of relief. She leaned over Percy, letting her tears fall all over his stomach. Slowly, but surely, the wound started to close. Percy stirred and sighed quietly, his breathing becoming more normal. Annabeth was giddy with happiness. Percy was going to live!

Suddenly, she felt something cold and heavy clamp down on her wrist. What? She tried to rise, but was shoved roughly back down. Her head smashed against a rock and spots danced before her eyes. She screamed in defiance. There was a clattering sound, like metal on rock, and something started spinning her around and around, covering her with celestial bronze chains. She wriggled and squirmed, but they only wrapped her tighter until she could barely breathe. Cuffs clamped down on her wrists and ankles. The last thing she felt before falling unconscious was rocketing upwards.

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**So what do you think? Definitely OOC, but drop a review anyway?**

**The next chapter is the last, guys. It's been fun! I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I will try to come back and fill in the gaps, i promise. It might take a little bit, but I will do my best.**

**Still don't have a copy of the book... I feel like punching a bookshelf... (Hehe, get it? "Son of Neptune" reference!)**


	16. PIPER XVI

**10-11-13**

**Hello, everyone! Here is the (sort of, not really) last chapter!**

**So, this chapter contains the first scene I've ever written, the scene that started it all. I originally had Piper Iris Messaging the two camps after this particular scene, but I thought it would be more likely for the camps to come in sooner.**

**Thank you to everyone who's followed, favorited, and reviewed! To be honest, I haven't been reading the reviews since people think it's amusing to keep spoiling the book for me :P**

**Enjoy!**

**PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE BOTTOM! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO THIS STORY!**

**edit: 10-16-13 Minor grammatical and format changes.**

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**PIPER**

**Piper didn't know how long they had been leaning on these cursed Doors.** Her ADHD brain made it seem like hours. There was about a foot left. They were almost closed. Piper felt her heart leap. They could do this. They could close the Doors.

"Push!" shouted Reyna, swooping down on Scipio. "Come on, close it! We can't hold these things off much longer!"

Piper gritted her teeth. Who knew a door could be so heavy? With Leo, Hazel, Jason, Frank, and her pushing, she'd have thought the thing would close faster. Then again, only Percy and Annabeth were on the other side, and they didn't have an army to watch their backs. She immediately felt guilty about whining, even if it was only in her head. They were probably having a hundred times the trouble on the other side.

Then she realized with a start that the Doors had stopped moving. She peeked around the side of the Door, but only saw darkness beyond. A cold wind blew out of the opening, and she felt herself drawn toward the opening. She quickly retreated behind the relative safety of their Door.

"Why do you think it stopped?" she panted.

Without warning, something hurtled out of the opening, landing spread-eagled on the ground in front of Piper and she nearly leapt out of her skin.

"Ow," the thing moaned. It sat up, and rubbed its head.

Piper realized with a start that the 'thing' was Nico di Angelo.

"Nico," she gasped. "What are you doing here? Are Percy and Annabeth okay?"

As if in answer, the Doors began to move again.

Nico looked up, looking slightly dazed from face planting on the ground. He shook his head and stood up, his expression one of anger and frustration.

"Percy shoved me out," he grumbled. He turned and looked at the rapidly diminishing gap between the Doors, and Piper saw that his eyes were shining with pure relief.

Piper couldn't blame him. Getting trapped in Tartarus wasn't exactly on the Top Ten list of things she wanted to do in her lifetime. Especially if Nico had all ready been in there once.

"What about Percy and Annabeth?" she asked desperately. "Isn't there a way to get them out?"

Nico shook his head, glaring stone-faced at the Doors of Death. "The Doors must be closed from both sides," he said in a gravelly monotone. "There's no way they can get out."

Piper thought about what Annabeth had told her before running back into Tartarus: _"Percy won't leave anyone behind. And I won't leave him behind."_

She remembered what her mom had said in her dream that seemed like years ago, but had only been a few months: _"Love is the most powerful motivator in the world. It spurs mortals to greatness. Their noblest, bravest acts are done for love._

Percy's fatal flaw was loyalty. She had heard about how loyal he was to his friends. His loyalty to his girlfriend? Immeasurable.

He had fallen into Tartarus with Annabeth, even though he could have easily avoided it. All he had to do was let go. But he didn't. And just now, Annabeth had returned the sacrifice: running back into that horrible pit because she just couldn't leave Percy behind.

Could she ever do something like that? Probably not.

The thought made her sick with guilt. Percy and Annabeth had already given so much. They should've been able to hang up their weapons, retire from the life of a hero and live the remainder of their lives as peacefully as possible. No war, no evil warlords wanting to take over the world to worry about. Only the occasional monster. Now, they were giving their lives. An unhappy ending to an unhappy story.

Her eyes filled with tears. They could have gotten married. They could've had kids. But no, they were ending their lives in hell to save the lives of their friends. To save the world.

Someone placed a hand on her shoulder.

She turned to find Jason looking at her, his expression grim. She knew his thoughts were running along the same lines as hers.

They watched the gap close. Six inches…four inches…two inches…

Suddenly, they heard a shout of surprise followed by a blood-curdling scream: "Percy! Percy! No!" All of the demigods practically fell onto the Door in surprise.

As the Doors slammed shut, Piper realized what she had just heard. Percy had shouted. Annabeth had screamed. She sank to the ground as Nico and Jason slammed the bolt into place, her hands covering her ears in a vain attempt to get those screams out of her head. But she knew they would haunt her for the rest of her life.

~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~

Back on board the _Argo II_, everyone sat on deck in nervous silence. All of the Greek senior counselors were here, as well as the Roman centurions, Reyna, and the remaining demigods of the seven, plus Nico and Coach Hedge. No one dared to say it aloud, but everyone was thinking the same thing. What had happened to Percy and Annabeth after they had closed the Doors of Death? Were they still alive? She shuddered as she remembered Annabeth's anguished cries. _Percy! Percy! No!_ Finally, Piper couldn't stand it any longer. She glanced over at Nico and Hazel.

"Can you tell?" There was no need for further explanation. They all knew what she was talking about. Everyone directed their gazes at the children of Hades/Pluto. Nico and Hazel looked at each other nervously.

"We're not sure," Hazel began.

"How can you not be sure?" interrupted Leo, "They're either alive, or dead, there's no in between." He paused uncertainly. "Is there?"

"No," confirmed Nico. "But as Hazel was saying, we can't be sure. It's almost like they're being shielded from us."

Then Jason spoke up. "Is that even possible? I thought you guys were supposed to be able to distinguish that. Uh, no offense."

Nico shrugged slightly. "Usually, it's pretty easy to tell. But this time…" He spread his hands awkwardly.

Hazel finished for him. "Someone's blocking them from our sight."

Frank spoke up, "Which means they're alive, right? I mean, why bother shielding them if they're already dead?"

No one spoke.

"If only there could be a way to be certain," said Jason.

Piper could tell they were getting nowhere. Maybe she could use Katoptris.

All eyes swiveled towards her. Oops. She hadn't meant to say that last sentence aloud.

Frank nodded his head thoughtfully, "That might work."

Piper shifted uncomfortably under their stares. "It's just a thought. I don't know if it will work. It never really shows me what I want to see."

"It's worth a shot," Jason agreed.

"Wait, how could a knife help us find out what happened to Percy and Annabeth?" asked Connor Stoll.

Everyone ignored him.

Piper sighed. She really didn't wanted to use Katoptris, but she didn't have a better idea. "Okay, I'll do it. Just, give me some space, okay?" She turned away from the group and headed to the other side of the deck. She hesitated. She wasn't really in the mood for confusing, futuristic images, but she had to try. She took a deep breath to gather her nerves, and unsheathed Katoptris.

At first, she only saw her own reflection. Then the image changed. For once, Katoptris showed her exactly what she wanted to see. Sort of. Percy and Annabeth were chained and lying unconscious at the edge of a huge pit. Tartarus. She quickly looked them over. They seemed to be fine. Wait a second. She peered closely at Percy, and realized with dismay that he had a deep cut on his stomach. He must have already lost a lot of blood, because his face was white as a sheet. A dozen drakons came into her sight, hissing and baring their fangs. She realized they were laughing.

"The bounty is ours!" one hissed, and the others screeched in triumph.

"Now their blood will be spilled on the ancient stones, and shall awaken Mother Earth!"

Piper watched in horror as they surrounded Percy and Annabeth and started dragging them away from the pit.

Her horror changed to confusion. Katoptris only showed images. It _never_ had given her sound.

The image shifted. She saw the face of a sleeping woman. Gaea.

"Of course not, my dear. This image was a gift from me. Now, your friends will be sacrificed. I will wake." She heard deep, hollow laughter that seemed to come from everywhere.

Piper's vision swam. Her knees buckled and Katoptris slipped out of her hand as she collapsed onto the deck.

~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~

Piper woke up to find the concerned faces of her friends looking down at her.  
"Are you all right?" asked Jason.

"Can you talk?" Leo interrupted.

Piper stared up at them. No, she wanted to say, but she couldn't find her voice. She had just found out that Percy and Annabeth had been captured by Gaea's minions. How could she be alright? Plus, it was really embarassing to just faint on the deck in front of everyone. How heroic was that? She swallowed the lump in her throat and decided to answer the second question.

"Yes," she said faintly.

"What happened?" asked Leo hopping from one foot to the other impatiently, "What did you see?"

"Leo," reprimanded Hazel.

"What? I'm just asking."

"She'll tell us when she's ready."

All of them looked at her expectantly.

Piper wished she could just lie there forever, and forget about all of her problems. But she knew that was impossible. She knew she would have to tell them sooner or later, and putting it off wouldn't do Percy and Annabeth any good. She sat up.

"Okay," she sighed. "But I warn you, it's not good."

Frank nodded, "Naturally."

Piper sighed. She tried to think of an easy way to break it to them, but nothing came to her. She just decided to be blunt: "Percy and Annabeth have been captured by Gaea's minions."

At first, everyone just stared at Piper in horrified silence. Then everyone was talking at once, each one trying to speak over the other. Questions bombarded her from all sides.

"Are you sure?"

"Where are they?"

"Are they dead?"

"Now we're really gonna die!"

Piper just sat there, unable to say anything. She looked over at Coach Hedge pleadingly.

He got the message. He cupped his hands over his mouth and bellowed "SHUT UP!"

Everyone stopped and stared at him in surprise. Piper shot him a grateful look.

"Thanks, Coach." She told them what she had seen and heard.

Leo was the first to speak.

"Now what?"

"Now," replied Jason, "We sail for Mount Olympus. As we go, we form a rescue plan. We've been here too long already."

"Okay," said Coach Hedge, "here's the plan. Go to Mount Olympus. Blow up everything but Percy and Annabeth. Leave."

That was Coach's plan for every rescue.

"Uh, not exactly, Coach," Jason said. "We need something a little more elaborate. It won't be that simple." He looked around the circle. "So, any ideas?"

"Fly to Olympus," Nico said grimly. "It's the only way to get them back."

To get them back. Not to defeat Gaea, not to save the world, but to get Percy and Annabeth back.

"That sounds good to me," Piper said. She was tired of the demigod life, even if she hadn't even though she hadn't part of it for a year yet. She had no desire to rush off to her death for the sake of keeping a few boneheaded gods in charge of the world. But if their goal was to save their two best friends? She'd willingly put her life on the line.

She glanced around the circle at all of the centurions, counselors, and the remainder of the seven. All of their faces were serious, even Leo and the Stolls. Everyone knew what was coming. Another war. And this time, there was a very high possibility that none of them would make it back alive.

"Let's do this," Leo announced, standing up and striding over to the controls. He put a hand on a lever, then turned back to face them. "Ready when you are, General," he told Jason.

Jason took a deep breath, his expression unreadable. His back straightened and his jaw tightened. He glanced over at Reyna. "Are you coming with us?"

Reyna stood up and whistled loudly. Scipio came swooping down, landing at his mistress's feet. Reyna leapt onto his back and took to the air. "I will tell the legions to prepare for battle. We will follow as soon as we can."

Jason turned to look at Clarisee, but before he could say anything, Clarisse announced, "We're in. Nobody picks on Prissy and Princess except me."

The remaining Greek counselors growled in agreement.

They stood up, and Clarisse raised her spear. She looked around the group questioningly. "For Olympus?" she suggested.

"No," Jason announced. Everyone looked at him in surprise as he took a step forward.

"Not for Olympus," he announced. "Our parents have abandoned us, chosen to ignore us in our time of need. We fight for each other. We fight for our legacies. We fight for justice. We fight for the world. But most of all, we fight for our friendship. Percy and Annabeth have sacrificed much more than they should have for the Greek gods, and what do they get as a reward? Falling into Tartarus. No, we're not fighting for the gods. We're fighting for them." He raised his sword high. "For Percy and Annabeth!"

Everyone thrust their weapons into the air. "For Percy and Annabeth!"

Reyna studied Jason closely. She had been the only one not to shout. "That was not very Roman of you, Jason Grace," she said.

Jason gazed up at her, defiance Piper had never seen before flashing in his eyes. "Well, maybe I'm not just Roman anymore," he challenged.

They stared at each other, Jason still defiant, Reyna unreadable. Finally, Reyna flicked the reins on Scipio and began to fly toward the demigods below. "I hope you know what you're doing, Jason," she said coldly before disappearing below the hull.

Proper barely heard Jason mutter, "I hope I do too." Then he turned back toward the others. "Leo, set course for Olympus," he ordered. "The rest of you are welcome to stay onboard or use some other mode of transportation. This is your last chance to go home. Nobody will think any less of you if you quit right now."

Everyone stared at him.

"Dude, is he joking?" one of the Stoll twins asked, Piper couldn't tell which.

"He'd better be," said the other Stoll. "What a stupid thing to say! Our two leaders have been captured, and he thinks we're just gonna walk out on them? Sheesh, he needs his head examined."

"That's what I keep saying!" Leo announced from the dash. "I gave him a prescription, but he didn't want to use it."

Piper felt the heat creeping to her cheeks. Oh, gods.

"What was the prescription?" the Stolls asked eagerly.

Leo grinned almost evilly. "Kissing Piper."

"Oh, really?" Clarisse said, her eyes glinting mischievously. "Kiss her, kiss her," she began to chant.

Soon, everyone on board was chanting along with her. "Kiss her, kiss her."

The Apollo kids began singing something that sounded supspciously like "Kiss the Girl."

Piper's cheeks were flaming. This was so embarrassing. She glanced around the crowd of demigods, silently pleading them to stop. Even the Romans were chanting along, urging their former Praetor on. Frank looked uncomfortable, but he too had joined the row. Hazel had her smal hands covering her face, but Piper could still see her glittering gold eyes peeking through her fingers. Leo was grinning like a maniac, jumping up and down with each sentence. Even Nico was smiling and chanting with the others.

Jason looked stunned and confused. He glanced hesitantly over at Piper who was standing beside him.

The chanting grew louder and more insistent. "Kiss her! Kiss her!"

Jason leaned forward so their noses were almost touching. Piper could feel his breath puffing warmly against her already hot cheeks.

"KISS HER! KISS HER!"

Jason closed the final inches and their lips met.

The campers cheered as Jason wrapped his arms around Piper's waist, deepening the kiss. Piper felt a shock of electricity run through her body, starting at her lips and traveling down to her toes, leaving her whole body tingling. Her heart beat so hard and fast, she was sure everyone could hear it. She was sure Jason could feel it, at least. She let herself get lost in the moment, ignoring the cheers all around her and focusing only on Jason's lips pressed against hers, his arms comfortably wrapped around her waist.

Without warning, something wet and freezing poured onto her head, the chilly liquid soaking her from head to toe. She yelped in shock and leapt away from Jason who had been similarly doused.

She looked up to find the Camp Half-Blood demigods laughing their heads off, Clarisse holding a huge empty bucket in her hands as she guffawed.

The Romans looked absolutely horrified.

Jason face was a bright pink. "What was that for?" he demanded.

Nico stepped forward, barely concealed amusement dancing in his eyes. "You two are officially a couple," he announced. "You have been given Camp Half-Blood's seal of approval. Technically, we're supposed to dump you in a lake, but since there's no lake handy, we had to improvise."

"Excuse me?" Piper asked, embarrassment still heating her cheeks.

"We—" Clarisse gasped, trying to speak through her laughter. "Did—the same thing—to Percy and Annabeth—after the Titan War."

"Yeah—" Will Solace stammered. "They kissed—dumped them—in the lake."

"Unfortunately," Nico said, "no one was smart enough to realize that Percy was a son of Poseidon. We stayed on the bank waiting for them to come up for _hours_. He turned the joke on us."

"That was awesome!" Leo yelled. "You guys asked for it!"

"Leo!" Piper snapped.

"Anyway," said one of the Stolls, "it's become Camp Half-Blood's initiation ceremony. Especially since Percy and Annabeth _totally_ deserved it. It was obvious to anyone but them that they liked each other since they first met! Well, once they got past the kill each other stage."

"Okay," Jason said, his cheeks still pink. "Fun's over. You guys still haven't answered my question."

"Oh, we're in," Will said. "No contest."

Frank looked at Will curiously. "So, your name is Will?" he asked.

Will raised an eyebrow. "Yeah."

"And you're a son of Apollo?"

"Yeah."

"So, you shoot a bow, your name is Will, and you like to raise one eyebrow," Frank mused.

Everyone stared at him and Frank's cheeks turned a faint shade of red.

"Let me guess," Leo said slowly. "Ranger's Apprentice?"

Frank's cheeks turned even redder. "Yeah. Forget I said anything."

Leo nodded. "We will."

"Well," Piper announced, clapping her hands together loudly. "Let's get going."

"Agreed," said Jason. "Come on, everybody, let's go."

"That was _so_ Dora," Leo muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"It better not be, Valdez."

"Boys!" Piper cried. "Know it off! Leo, get us out of here!"

"Whatever, Beauty Queen." Leo flicked a switch and the _Argo II_ rumbled. "Here we go!"

The anchor rolled itself up and the ship jerked forward, headed toward Mount Olympus. Piper heard cheering below, and looked over the rails to see the remaining demigods rising up behind them, riding in chariots and on pegasi.

She walked up to the front with Leo and stood on top of the bow, gazing out in the direction she knew amount Olympus to be. To the place where Percy and Annabeth were. "Hang in there, guys," Piper whispered. "We're coming."

**~OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO~**

**IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!**

**Okay, guys, so like I've been saying (if you've been reading the author's notes) I am going to be coming back and changing and adding a lot of stuff to make this complete. What I'm going to do is publish a chapter that's only going to be an author's note (yes, they are illegal, but it is essential for this story to make sense) and it will list all of the chapters. From there, I will tell you which ones have been changed, and if the change is small enough I'll tell you what was changed so you don't have to reread it. I will also tell you which chapters were added in the middle, and which one's will be moved. I will try to get the first update ASAP, but I'm going to have a really busy week next week, so I'm not sure when it will be.**

**Okay, if you want to leave the author's note now and leave a review, you can.**

**So what do you think of the chapter? Let me know in a review!**

**I hope you guys enjoyed! Check out my other stories, and vote on my poll if you want a say in what I publish next!**

**I'VE GOT A COPY OF "HOUSE OF HADES" NOW! YEEEEEEESSSSSSS! Unfortunately, I can't read it for awhile since I'm gonna be at a quiz all of tomorrow, and then I'll have to catch up on homework Sunday, and then the weekdays are back. *Sigh***

**Hope to see you guys soon!**


	17. Complete

**Ugh. Sorry, guys, but I don't think I'm going to go back and fix this. I'm scrambling with my schoolwork and other projects, and I've hardly found anytime to even TOUCH the chapters I want to write. If you guys want me to continue, I guess I'll try, but until further notice, this is complete. Or on hiatus. Something like that. I never thought I would do that to a story...**


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